Whoever you may be, you have probably performed some kind of cultural ritual to call on Lady Luck once or twice in your life. For me, it was often a cross of the fingers and a quick prayer: “please, please, please, be on my side today!”

We tend to believe that luck is a wild card. “Lady Luck,” the Contemporary Western sister of the Roman goddess of luck, Fortuna, awards fortune and misfortune on a whimsical gamble. Nobody, including herself, knows which lot they will be given.

This is the backstory popular culture has fed us for generations. We have been told that big successes are for the few, the world is unfair, and we all have to accept and live with our lot in life. In the meantime, we are all hustling along, trying to find the next Superhack to make our lives a little bit easier. We have so many big dreams, and so little time!

I have now learned that all of this is false advertising. We’ve been fed a lie, and I am breaking the silence.

At least several times a day, I catch strangers, acquaintances, coworkers, friends, and family engaging in a very familiar exchange. They indulge in conversations about how so-and-so is so lucky for having a lot of money, a great job, a great house, a great car, a great wife/husband, great kids, a great body, a green thumb, a refined manner-of-speaking, a skilled artistic hand, etc.  Very few will step back from this familiar conversation to assert that so-and-so earned what they have through hard work and intentionally constructive daily habits. Nobody wants to stand witness to the sleepless nights, frequent workouts, mindful eating, strict budgeting, or the practice-practice-practice mentality behind success. It takes away the sparkle of sheer dumb luck.

This is irresponsible.

Let’s be honest; perhaps a few people have slipped through the cracks and can claim they’ve succeeded by doing nothing at all. But how often is this really the full truth? If it is, then is this luck sustainable?

No.

Google “unlucky lottery winner” and you will quickly come to understand the value of sustainable and intentionally designed luck. You are probably familiar with folklore about people being granted whatever they wished for on a silver platter, ultimately resulting in the complete unraveling of their entire lives. I’m thinking of  the tale of King Midas, and the tale of The Sausage (by Gabriel Djurklou), among many others. There are thousands of stories passed down through generations and across cultures that warn against unsustainable luck. This luck may be differentiated from intentional luck in one key way: it aims to eliminate hard work.

I’ll be the first to admit that worthwhile life events are seldom the product of shortcuts. Working hard is unavoidable in the fight for the good life. Without hard work, nothing can last. If one tiny woodpecker can bring down a mighty maple, and one small hole can sink an enormous ship, imagine how quickly your luck can turn on you if you do not work hard to sustain it. Of course, there are many small ways by which we can alter the course of our future. By taking on the little challenges, even when we are fearful of the great ones, we can inspire Lady Luck to bend the odds in our favour.

The purpose of this blog is to show you how you can actively design your own luck. It aims to show you that luck is, for the most part, entirely intentional. Your words, actions, expectations, and thoughts are all active variables in the equation of your life.

Together, you and I will embark on the journey to build the blueprint for intentional lifestyle design despite the odds. We will uncover just how few of our circumstances are truly coincidental, and determine the many small and big ways by which we can effect change in our own lives and in the lives of others.

The topics covered here are all founded upon my personal experience and reflections. Please feel free to share your own in the comments.

 

And remember… we design our own luck! 

M.