About forty years ago, Richard Branson began his adventure in the aviation industry. Just before the press was to be introduced to Virgin Atlantic, his first airplane experienced engine problems. While he was worried about this outright disaster, descending the stairs of his new acquisition, he came face to face with an eager journalist who already had his camera ready.
Branson apologized, stating that he was not yet ready to answer questions, to which the journalist responded that he was sorry to see smoke coming from one of the engines. However, the journalist assured Branson that he had managed to capture some great shots.
"Just my luck," Branson thought to himself! With a smile, the journalist said, "But don't worry, I'm not from one of those tabloids; I work for the Financial Times," after which he opened his camera, took out the film roll, and neatly handed it over to Branson.
It could have been the last day of Virgin Atlantic if that photo had been widely spread in the media, and this before any passengers had even been transported. What a stroke of luck, and I argue that this stems from Branson's optimistic mindset.
How Does an Optimistic Mindset Bring More Luck?
It is often said that you attract what you are, and when it comes to quantum physics, this has been more than proven. Einstein knew this already but couldn't explain it. He called it 'the spooky element' because it was so elusive to him. But even if you don't believe in this, there are also more factual reasons why an optimistic mindset attracts more luck than a pessimistic one.
Finding Opportunities by Taking on Challenges
Optimistic people approach situations with a positive attitude, which makes them more likely to push their boundaries and better able to see and seize opportunities. If you do nothing, there will be no opportunities that can positively change your life. We need to 'water' ourselves to grow and flourish, and that attracts exactly the luck we need.
Surrounding Yourself with the Right People
Optimism and positivity attract people, and you need those people around you for a bit of luck. If you lose your job, there might be someone in your network who can offer you a new one. That luck is then the result of your optimism, because people are more inclined to help optimistic individuals and enjoy being around them.
More Luck Through Resilience
Resilience is the ability to bounce back quickly from setbacks. Optimistic people still see opportunities under all circumstances, and seeing opportunities means you can take advantage of them. They don't let themselves be defeated by what happens to them but look at what is still possible, thereby calling luck upon themselves.
Giving and Receiving Motivation and Inspiration
What you give, you get back, and this also works with an optimistic mindset. An optimistic mindset is motivating and inspiring, and so you receive motivation and inspiration from your environment in return. The luck of having that one brilliant idea is usually the result of your own optimistic mindset.
More Creativity Leads to More Luck
If you want to discover and try things out, this is usually the result of an optimistic mindset. You see opportunities everywhere, and even though many things may go wrong, some things will succeed. The luck that you succeed is therefore indirectly a result of a positive mindset and daring to dream.
What Can You Do to Develop an Optimistic Mindset?
Even if you have been walking around with a more negative mindset for a long time—perhaps as long as you can remember—it is possible to start thinking optimistically. Sometimes it seems as if we are born with a certain attitude or mindset, or that things have happened to us that have made us look at life or people negatively, and that this cannot be changed. In practice, however, it appears that it is 'just' a mindset and that we are more flexible in terms of mindset than you might sometimes think.
Coaching to Develop an Optimistic Mindset
A part of developing an optimistic mindset is learning to reframe your perception of the outside world. Many coaches can help you with this by questioning your internal world, allowing you to come to new insights yourself. We humans frame everything we experience and observe, which means that we look at it in a certain way within a framework, leaving out other perspectives.
Meditation to Develop an Optimistic Mindset
Things we don't like, we usually want to forget and banish from our lives quickly. However, it can be useful to seek them out, especially when it comes to meditation. By meditating with things you are pessimistic about in mind, you will notice that your (sometimes intense) reaction will transform into a neutral thought and eventually even into a more optimistic thought. Meditation, when performed correctly, has a neutralizing effect on how we perceive the world around us. The key is to envision a situation you are pessimistic about and, during the meditation, not judge but merely observe.
Surrounding Yourself with Positivity to Develop an Optimistic Mindset
If, for example, you are surrounded by negativity all day due to the news or the type of online content you view, this influences your mindset. Therefore, make sure you surround yourself with enough positivity and optimism. A long walk on the beach or in the forest can sometimes work wonders. Swap a gossip magazine or shooting game for a nice comedy or a positive song. Visit a friend who always makes you laugh or read a book that makes you happy more often. The impulses around you have a greater impact on your mindset than you sometimes realize.
Luck Requires More Than an Optimistic Mindset
Suppose you do all of the above and have the ultimate optimistic mindset, will you suddenly have the luck of winning the lottery? No, of course not. But the chance of winning the lottery starts with believing there is a chance you can win and buying a ticket. Only then can you call upon luck to win something.
With this, I don't want to encourage anyone to gamble or participate in games of chance but rather to call upon your own luck. An optimistic mindset is a prerequisite for bringing more luck into your life and not a guarantee.
Therefore, take action, surround yourself with the right people, overcome obstacles, and if you can't get out of a negative spiral on your own, seek external help from a coach, because everyone deserves a bit of luck.
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