“We must believe in luck, for how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?”—Jean Cocteau
Luck and timing can be an important part of the success of any company. But how can you increase the chances of Lady Luck shining on your small business every day? It can start with you changing your own thoughts and behaviors to get better results.
Here are some ways to help attract more luck for your business.
1. Maximize each opportunity.
Lucky people don’t lock themselves in their office. They actually go out and look for additional possibilities to make things happen. As Tony Robbins claims, “If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.” Be open to meeting new people and exposing yourself to new situations that can bring additional opportunities.
2. Spread your risk.
Don’t bet the success of your business on a single action or decision. And don’t invest your company's future on one product, employee or customer. The more chances you have for success; the more times you can be successful. Make small, patient decisions. Learn what you can from the results, and then take another action. This can also help minimize the damage of any one failure, and may allow you to learn from each result.
3. Listen to your gut.
Lucky people tend to sharpen, then act on their intuitions. Unlucky people likely don't trust themselves or their actions. Developing an intuition is about honing a skill in a certain area to see patterns that others miss. It takes diligent practice over a long period of time.
4. Don’t get frustrated.
Stressful people tend to be tense and uptight. They can seem desperate, and customers can “smell” this. Clients may become nervous about their decisions and decide to do business with another company. It can be critical for you to relax and not press too hard in almost every sales situation.
5. Expect luck.
People who think they're lucky and successful may have more of an opportunity for it to end up that way. This is because they optimistically focus on a victorious outcome. In Earl Nightingale’s book, The Strangest Secret, he emphasized that “we become what we think about.” Afraid of hitting the ball into the sand trap on the next golf shot? Focusing on this while swinging the club can increase the chances of it ending up there. In business, if you focus on being afraid of not making a sale, you probably won’t make that sale. If you're pessimistic, your actions can become invested in failure rather than success.
6. Optimize bad breaks.
You will likely fail some of the time. Whether this is due to wrong actions, insufficient training, poor timing or just plain bad luck isn't important. What is key is to learn what you can from failure right now. Have a pity party for 24 hours if you must, but then let go and move on to take another action that can give you an additional chance of success.
7. Use luck rituals.
Got a lucky suit or tie? What about a pair of socks? These may seem to really work. What these rituals can do is put you in a better frame of mind to expect and receive the luck and opportunities that come your way. In fact, according to research led by Lysann Damisch of the University of Cologne in Germany, wishing someone luck can actually improve their chances of success.
Finally, remember when all else fails, do what movie producer Samuel Goldwyn claimed: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
Read more articles about leadership skills.