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Dear Partners,

Do you consider yourself to be lucky? Lucky in love, business, money, health—or all of the above? I have always considered myself a lucky person, in spite of life’s normal unfortunate occurrences—choosing the wrong first career for myself, losing a job, failed relationships, fender benders, etc. Overall, my life has been happy, successful, and deeply satisfying. And I have always wondered a lot about the difference luck makes in having a successful happy life and a less fortunate existence.

I have also had a gut feeling that our beliefs about being lucky—or not—have a direct influence on our good fortune. This month we will hear from Dr. Richard Wiseman, who has been doing research for the past 7 years on luck and it’s effects on our lives. I will introduce his work in a moment, but first, this story about two young women as they begin their careers and embark on the adventures of a lifetime.

The Story of “Lucky” and “Notso”

(Our stories are from clients or coaching/partnering experiences-so please send any that you feel others would benefit from. You will receive attribution {or not} as you wish.)

The following is an excerpt from an e-mail received from my niece, Lucky (aka Lynde), describing the exciting events in her life in her first year out of college in Manhattan. In this e-mail, Lucky Lynde had been away for two weeks and has just returned to New York City:

“It was so nice to be arriving back in “the city”. My stomach turned with excitement as I saw all the lights and people all over the streets. New York is definitely beginning to feel like home. After being back in the city for only one night, I already had a week full of events planned.

…Furthermore, my job description has taken on an entirely new role in the company. I am John Rosselli’s personal assistant, all the while, I am assisting designers and architects in sales in the store, working on a website, mailing out catalogs to showrooms, keeping in contact with people we buy from and much, much more.

My living situation (across the street from work) has been a definite plus in the fact that I do not have to commute. I miss having a car, but it is also a great relief not to have to deal with gas and problems that you face with a car. …I am working on finding a place to stay in the Hamptons this summer with some friends. …My co-workers and I are getting along great. We have wine club every other Wednesday night and a group of us get together and share different wines from different regions.
Keep in touch and let me know when you all plan to visit! Miss you!"

It’s obvious from the tone of this message that Lucky Lynde is enthusiastic and positive about the future and expecting great things to continue to happen in her life and work. Let’s contrast her life experience with another young career woman, “Notso” (Lucky). Both girls had similar advantages and educations, but “Notso” is not having such an exciting, positive experience. She went to the west coast hoping to “fall into” a good job and be around famous people. She is now in a less than challenging job and doesn’t think it will lead to anything more rewarding. She hasn’t met new friends and is already planning to move back to the east coast. Her current world view is one of gloom, dissatisfaction and disappointment.

When asked what she thought was responsible for the difference in the two young women’s situations, Lynde said, “I guess it’s that I am willing to do what it takes to make things happen and I expects good things to happen, so I have a lot of luck”. We both agreed that her west coast counterpart is simply waiting and yet expecting that things probably won’t turn out as she wants.

 

??????? QUEST-ions for reflection ????????

• What role has luck played in the successes/failures in my life?Do I consider myself lucky?
  
• Do I believe that my beliefs about being lucky (or not) contribute to what actually happens in my life?
  
• When bad things happen, what is my normal response?
  
• Do I maximize opportunities for good luck by being open to and aware of opportunities around me?
  
• To what degree do I listen to my lucky hunches?
  
• What is one thing I might do today to increase the level of good luck in my life?
  
  

***Monthly Firecracker***
As you look back on your life and career do you see a retrospective of missed opportunities and paths not taken? Or do you see lucky breaks and coincidences that led to momentous positive events which enabled you to lead a charmed life? If you are in the first category (or you are in the second and just want “kick it up a notch”), here are some things you might do to improve your chances for good fortune, according to Dr. Wiseman:

1. Always be scanning the environment for opportunity. Those of us who are muddling through life, hunkered down in order to avoid the next mistake or catastrophe never see the $10 bill on the sidewalk (from Dr. Wiseman’s research).
2. Listen to lucky hunches—or those internal intuitions that say “wrong job, wrong relationship, wrong time to buy this stock”.
3. Expect good fortune to happen to you. Your beliefs and expectations actually shape your behavior and enable you to be the predominant creative force in your own life—more about that next month.
4. Be optimistic—even in the face of a run of bad luck, Dr. Wiseman found that a “lucky” person with a broken leg when asked if he felt that bad luck had caused his accident would usually say something like, “Well, it could have been a lot worse-at least I didn’t break my neck!!”

To hear an excerpt from Dr. Wiseman’s interview with Al Roker, click on the following link and scroll down until you see the picture of Dr. Wiseman and then click on “Free Movie”. If the hyperlink doesn’t work, just copy and paste it into your web browser.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/895481.asp#BODY

 

“…I know that there are any number of men
in my employ who could run my business just as
well as I can. They didn’t get the breaks—that’s
the only difference between them and me.”
Julius Rosenwald
Past President
Sears and Roebuck Company

Book of the Month

Click here to order

The Luck Factor
Changing Your Luck,
Changing Your Life: The
Four Essential Principles
Dr. Richard Wiseman

 

Dennis Murphy, “Dateline” correspondent and Al Roker, “The Today Show”, spoke with Dr. Richard Wiseman this week about his new book, The Luck Factor and the his research findings that some people really are consistently lucky while others aren’t. And luck he says has nothing to do with it. The interviews showed experiments done with people in Wiseman’s Lucky Lab and talked about his Luck School for those desiring to become more lucky in life.

Here’s an excerpt from the first chapter:

Luck exerts a dramatic influence over our lives. A few seconds of bad fortune can unravel years of striving, while a moment of good luck can lead to success and happiness. Luck has the power to transform the improbable into the possible; to make the difference between life and death, reward and ruin, happiness and despair.

…We surveyed a wide range of people…This simple survey showed that most people were indicating an amazing level of consistency in their experience of good luck and bad luck…

Luck could not simply be the outcome of chance events. There were too many people consistently experiencing good and bad luck for it all to be chance. Instead, there must be something causing things to work out consistently well for some people and consistently badly for others. Given the importance of luck, it seemed vital to try to understand why this was the case. Were these people really destined to succeed or fated to fail?…Or could it all be explained in terms of differences in their beliefs and behavior? Most important of all, if we understood more about what was happening, would it be possible to enhance people’s luck?

In closing…
Thanks for learning and exploring new ideas with me. Best of luck to you all.

In partnership,

Rebecca Bradley, MCC
President
Partnership Coaching, Inc.

Partnering to GROW Capacity

 

P² Coaching Groups Are Here!!
The Power of Partnering for Exponential Results

We are beginning small group coaching programs (6-8 people). If you have wanted to experience the benefits of having a coaching partner for growing your capacity to create the personal and professional life you desire, but don't want the expense of individual coaching, small group coaching may be perfect for you. Please contact us if you would like more information and a free consultation to determine if P² Coaching Groups are for you!!

 

Contact Us:

Rebecca Bradley, is a Master Certified Coach (International Coach Federation), Consultant, Trainer, and Speaker, She partners with individuals, teams, and organizations to grow capacity…to do more, create more, enjoy more, and be more of what you want. Rebecca can be reached by e-mail at rebeccabradley@partnershipcoaching.com or by phone at 770-565-9560. We also invite you to visit our web site www.partnershipcoaching.com.

Copyright 2007 Rebecca Bradley
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