How Stoicism Can Help You Create Good Luck
Feeling lucky today?
Most people think that luck is something that happens to them. They wish upon stars, cross their fingers, and hope that they will be lucky enough to get lucky.
Well, it turns out that you don’t have to wait for luck to find you; you can create our own good fortune! The Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius gave us the formula for creating our own luck 2,000 years ago when he wrote in Meditations:
“But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions.”
Let’s break this quote down to see how these wise words from Marcus Aurelius can help us create our own good fortune.
Good Character
Good luck starts with integrity. If you want good fortune to find you, start by being a good person. When you have good character, you attract other people with good character. You become a beacon that other good people are naturally drawn to.
And the more good people you are surrounded by, the better your chances are of good things happening to you, because you will put yourself in the right spots with the right people.
Good things happen to good people.
Good Intentions
Once your character is good, the next step to inviting good luck is having good intentions. The word intention can be kind of “fuzzy.” But in the case of creating good fortune for yourself; think of intentions as goals. What are your goals? What do you wish to achieve? What is the end game?
Luck can’t find you if you don’t have a clear plan of what you wish to achieve. But once your plan is clear, and you know exactly which direction you need to go, favorable opportunities (luck) become more evident, because you know what you are looking for.
Have a clear plan to spot opportunities.
Good Actions
But in the end, intentions are not enough. They point us in the right direction, but we have to forcibly hurl ourselves in that direction for luck to find us. Luck favors those with a bias for action, not just any action, but good action.
And what is good action? Action with a purpose. We can all fly through our day with a bias for action, but unless that action is intentional, it ends up being ineffective, and even potentially harmful.
Make sure your actions align with your intentions and drive you towards a meaningful result.
Fortune favors people with good character, good intentions, and good action.
Don’t wait and hope for luck to find you.
Follow the advice of Marcus Aurelius and create your own luck.
Executive Vice President of Clear Harbor
11 个月"Fortune favors people with good character, good intentions, and good action." Great article Mike
Strategic Communications Services Advisor
11 个月All joking aside, I feel lucky that I found this one. Maybe now my luck will change!!
Asst. Director of Digital Strategy @ USC l Transforming Institutions to Succeed in a Digital World | Fulbright Scholar | Mandarin Speaker
11 个月Michael, thanks for sharing this insightful post. The psychologist Richard Wiseman wrote a great book on luck called The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind. One of the greatest points I found in the book was that just by believing you are lucky, you will take more chances in life, which, in turn, will lead to your success.
Thoughtfully written, Michael. Thank you for sharing.