Gay Hendricks, Carol Kline’s Conscious Luck- Eight Secrets to Intentionally Change Your Fortune
Luck, for many, is a game of chance. It’s something that we expect to happen in our favor without us putting in the hard work. However, life at its very nature has its way of turning things on a different note. This right here is what I call an unexpected intervention.
A book changed my perspective on chances – Conscious Luck by Gay Hendricks. One major takeaway I had from the book is that being favored all the time is true and we are given the ability to create our own fate whichever way we please.
Luck, true as it may become is not something that is given to us when we were born; thus, we are given the chance to be fortunate although not all the time but most of the time. The book teaches us the secrets to becoming lucky now and forever.
In a study by Bloomsburg University philosophy professor Steven Hales stated that “Luck might not be a genuine quality of the world at all… Luck judgments are a matter of perspective.” Optimistic people treat positive experiences as being lucky while pessimists consider misfortunes as bad luck. This made me realize that while we look at it based on how we perceive the circumstances we are currently in, luck itself is determined by each person’s distinctive character.
Now, I want to share my thoughts about the book that will indulge you to listen to it as it did change my way of thinking, and hope that it will do the same to you.
The Eight Secrets To Being Lucky
The First Secret: Commit to Be a VLP – Very Lucky Person
The Second Secret: Release Your Personal Barriers to Good Fortune
The Third Secret: Transform Shame into a Magnet for Abundance
The Fourth Secret: Have Luck-Worthy Goals
The Fifth Secret: Take Bold Action Consistently
The Sixth Secret: Find Your Lucky Tribe
The Seventh Secret: Learn to Be at the Right Place at the Right
The Eighth Secret: Practice Radical Gratitude and Appreciation
These are the secrets to turning around any undesired situation we are currently facing. This paradigm teaches us to consciously create our success that shall eventually give us abundance we never imagined before. Conscious luck is the ability to identify and turn any adversaries into opportunities.
Luck is a result of our 10x actions and the more we work hard and focus on our AIM, the more blessed we get. This only proves that acquiring abundance is not only a mere chance but rather the fruit of the labor we have put into achieving our goals.
I would like to share these excerpts from the book as these words have struck me.
“Shame limits luck because it keeps us living in the space of the past echoing around in a field of shame and not being present in the here and now where luck takes place.”
Gay Hendricks, Carol Kline’s Conscious Luck- Eight Secrets to Intentionally Change Your Fortune
I believe many are able to relate to where I am coming from since most of us have a past that we are ashamed of; and for some reason, we have been living under the shadow of others’ judgments. In this book, I was able to realize that the shame of the past does not define WHO I AM and WHO I CAN BECOME. We should never punish ourselves for something that has already happened and we can never change. We may wish at times that if only we have the ability to turn back the time then we can perhaps change the course of our lives. But while we cannot change the past, the good thing is we can always prepare for the future. We just need to accept that we have the power to create the life that we have always dreamed of. A life with no worries, a life full of happiness and love, and we are unable to achieve that if we continue to live in the past. We just have to live right here and now.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Calvin Coolidge
While there are a lot of factors for someone to achieve success, I believe that having good ideas and persistence are equally important with the rest of the behavior that makes a man successful.
The road to success won’t be easy. It’s not a walk in the park. There are times that we would fail and yes, it’s going to be hard but we must always remember that keeping and maintaining success is a lot harder for us to be able to walk through. We would need all the luck that we can get, making it very crucial for us to choose the people whom we spend our time with. We must spend it with positive people who also seek to be lucky now and forever. Being surrounded by people who share the same dreams and goals will help us stay on track. If we want to attract luck, then we need to surround ourselves with the luckiest people we know. As we spend time with them, it would also widen our opportunity to meet more lucky people which may in a way be the reason for us becoming lucky as well.
“Surround yourself with greatness, and elevate yourself to belong to it.”
Secret Entourage
Ashley Carroll, a psychologist at Parkland Memorial Hospital, says when we ruminate on certain thoughts, it can snowball into bigger, more extreme negative thinking.
To break the habit, Carroll says, “a good first step is to take note of what triggers your overthinking. It might stem from past trauma or something in your life that’s currently a source of stress. Once you identify those triggers, you can start finding ways to overcome them”.
When we over think, we are also clouding up our brains to create new conscious habits of behavior. There’s a certain feeling that we need to protect ourselves from being hurt and from failing. I know these kinds of emotions as I get to feel them every now and then. I am a perfect example of a worrier and the more that I overthink the more I make mistakes. It is through this book that I learned how to manage my thought process and how overthinking is affecting me and my opportunity to be lucky.
Let’s face it, regardless of how lucky we are, there are certain times when things may not go as what we have planned. The best way to overcome that feeling of being a VICTIM is to always look on the brighter side. Be thankful for what we have instead of dwelling on the things that we don’t. Gratitude is when we accept the fact that life is not all the time rainbows and butterflies, there will be times that we get to experience a storm.
Commitment to Luck
I want to tell you a story where I realized how lucky I am. There was a time when I had so many worries. It was more on the financial side as I was the only one working and paying the bills. I would even end up crying about my problems. I decided to check my Facebook to shift my focus when I saw a post from both of my friends who lost their children. One child died from drowning and the other because of a disease. After reading their posts, I prayed right away and thanked GOD. I realized how lucky I am as my kids are healthy and they are with me.
When we start to count unfortunate events, we would eventually just focus on negativity. We must focus on what is important and what we can do to change our lives’ path to go back to being lucky. We should always go back to our sincere commitment to being lucky now and forever. When we say commitment, it’s our oath to always go back to the right track when we go astray.
PS: If you are someone who feels and thinks that you are unlucky, someone who has felt like a victim for so long, or someone who would commit to change and to being lucky now and forever, this is definitely the book for you.
