Luck As a Skill: How To Improve Your Chances of Winning

“I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

— Thomas Jefferson

I love this quote because I am not superstitious. I don’t particularly believe in fate, or the universe working for or against us at random (though I do believe in karma). This is not because I am cynical either, because I’m not. I see changes happen everyday, incredible feats that uplift me and give me great respect and hope for humanity and the universe.

I simply believe that luck doesn’t have to be completely arbitrary. It can be a skill that is honed by one thing: work. And in this context, self-work.  There is no getting around doing the work on ourselves, even when we are super busy.  

Therapy is just another form of hard work that can increase our odds of getting what we want from life and the universe.

Self-work is not an easy thing. It is a skill to develop. Like any skill, it takes time and practice in navigating the balance between acceptance and change—knowing when we need to sit back and radically accept things as they are, and when we need to step up and take action.  

We do this by checking in with ourselves constantly. This helps us understand what is driving us and our needs. We need to grow and maintain our self-awareness in regards to our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors so that we can make wise decisions.  

Self-care is not limited to therapy. It can take many forms, including: mindfulness practices, journaling, yoga, or whatever helps us slow down, and become present and aware.

The way I think of it is this: the more chips we put down on the table, the higher our chances are of winning.

Self-work gives us those those extra chips. So, let’s play to win.

 

Note: What I am talking about has nothing to do with life circumstances we have no control over, or events that are devastating and inexplicable.  This is about everyday tools that we can use to make the universe work for us.

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Dana Maloney is a Disruptive Therapist, Coach, Catalyst, and Founder of Good Enough Therapist. She is on a mission to disrupt the traditional model of therapy by making it accessible, affordable, and less sterile. She is based in Venice, CA.