Lucky is not a personality trait.
Nor is it a divine blessing.
I’ve spent years figuring out what makes people find success and attract positive things into their lives.
I learned that being lucky results from a series of creative acts.
It’s not something you are born with.
It’s not a gift afforded to people from specific cultural groups over others.
In other words, luck is the result of ‘lucky habits.’
The more these habits are enacted, the luckier I have seen people become.
Here are 8 tiny habits that will make you luckier than 98% of people:
1. You take action.
Given that luck happens when you expose yourself to more opportunities, the missing foundational catalyst in creating more options for you is: to do more. The more action you take, the more the world will take notice.
Be a maniac.
Attention placed on you and your work through doing more will bring more luck into your life.
2. You do hard things.
Why not focus on what is easy and only on what makes you happy?
Because ‘hard’ is almost always code for high-leverage activities that make you nervous or feel challenged.
Hard things, be it having difficult conversations with people or speaking on a stage, put you ahead of most people because most people avoid these things.
Beyond opening up more rewards for you, demanding things will stretch you and make you stronger, propelling you even further.
3. You prioritize flexibility
Unlucky people limit themselves and their environments, inadvertently making their lives devoid of luck.
When a challenge veers into view, whether a hefty tax bill, a divorce, or the threat of environmental disaster, they are forced to take significant losses.
Lucky people are continually aware of the need to remain flexible and footloose with a mature approach to creating backups and safety nets in their lives to endure fewer losses and — ultimately — enjoy more ‘lucky’ wins.
4. You risk being disliked.
The greatest documented fear beyond death itself is our fear of being criticized by others.
As such, most people actively avoid the pain of conflict and the potential to be rejected.
Avoidance has never been part of any formula for a lucky life. To be lucky, you must be willing to have people dislike you.
This means getting yourself out there, speaking your truth, and being bold.
5. You consistently take risks.
Taking risks doesn’t mean you live recklessly and do stupid things that put your life at risk. Lucky people know they must be okay with taking on a risk for greater rewards.
But not just any risk. Ask any wealthy or incredibly successful person how they got there, and most will talk about taking regular, thought-through, calculated risks.
Luck rarely comes off the back of playing it safe.
6. You’re a giver.
Many miserable people who never seem to get anywhere share a common habit: they are takers.
They expect things to be a certain way and get more upset when things don’t go their way.
They exist in an endless cycle of victimhood, always quick to blame others for their misfortunes.
Happy, lucky winners know that rewards will come their way in abundance when they follow the hidden Universal rule: you get what you give.
The more one gives, be it in sharing value and generosity or giving without expectation, the more will be reciprocated.
There isn’t a direct formula in this, but the more one gives in general, the more likely you are to prompt others to return the flow of energy back to you.
7. They focus on creating, not consuming.
If consuming is equivalent to staying at home, creating opens the door and stepping outside.
Luck isn’t waiting for you in your living room. You must leave home and focus on creating new things, whether new products, a piece of art, a relationship or writing a book.
And you must create every day.
If you’re not creating, you live life passively, and passive is a slow death. Lucky people know that creation is about moving fearlessly.
Only in creative motion will you beat a path to the fantastic rewards that make life worth living.
Photo: Ron Lach/Pexels
8. They make the first move.
Lucky people know the spell that steers most people: they can’t act unless they know it will mean being accepted.
Lucky people act whether it will lead to acceptance from others or not. This could look like starting a unique business, being an early adopter, or talking to a stranger.
This often means that decisions can lead to making mistakes, looking bad, and being criticized.
Lucky people care less.
They know that by committing to a strategy of making the first move often, they open themselves to a vast array of treasures that the scared, conformist masses will never enjoy.
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.
This article was originally published at Medium. Reprinted with permission from the author.