There are more than 50 laws or principles of luck, which I call, “Luck Factors.”  I am going to introduce you to seven of the most helpful luck factors, all of which are learnable by you.  Each of these luck factors can be quickly incorporated into your life and can literally double your effectiveness and your results in a very short period of time.

Luck Factor #1: Clarity

The first of these luck factors is simply, “Clarity.”  Clarity is as much as 80% of luck.  Clarity simply means that you know exactly what it is you want and is perhaps the most important luck factor of all, at least at the beginning.

The more definite you are about what you want, the more alert and aware you will be of opportunities and possibilities to achieve it faster.  All successful people are absolutely clear about who they are and what they want, and what they need to do to get from wherever they are to wherever they want to go.  Unsuccessful, unhappy people, on the other hand, are usually quite fuzzy about what it is they stand for and believe in, and what it is they really want from their lives.

As the old saying goes, “You can’t hit a target you can’t see.”  Or, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”  So called “lucky” people seem to be very, very clear about their goals and the steps they will have to take to achieve them.

One of the simplest things you can do to change your luck is to simply take a piece of paper and write down a list of at least 10 things you want to accomplish in the next 12 months.  This doesn’t seem like a very complicated exercise, but less than 3% of adults will ever engage in this exercise in their lifetimes.  And these 3% will end up at the top of every organization or company that they work with.

It has been said that success and prosperity begins with you, a pen and a piece of paper.  97% of people walking around today have no written goals at all.  The very act of putting pen to paper and determining the 10 things that you want to accomplish over the next 12 months moves you immediately into the top 3% of people living today.  All it takes it 3-5 minutes.

I’ve given this exercise to tens of thousands of people.  My files are now bulging with letters from people whose entire lives have been changed by the simple act of writing down 10 or more things that they wanted to be, have or do over the next year.  Here is an important part of luck.  Lucky people are those who, when they hear a good idea, they ask, “I wonder if it would work for me?”

Unlucky people, on the other hand, when they hear a good idea, like writing down 10 goals, always ask themselves, “I wonder whether it would do me any good?”

The difference between the luck person and the unlucky person is that the luck person is always asking, “How?”

When the lucky person thinks of something that he or she wants, the lucky person always asks, “How can I achieve it or acquire it?”  The attitude of always asking how seems to trigger both your subconscious and your super-conscious mind so that you are constantly seeing possibilities and getting insights that will help you achieve it.  But when you ask, “Whether,” you seem to shut down your creative capabilities.

In your brain is small finger-like organ called the “Reticular Cortex.”  This reticular cortex is like a telephone switch board. It controls the messages that are allowed to hit your eyes, ears and other senses.  Since you are bombarded by hundreds and thousands of messages, from all sides, continually, this reticular cortex enables you to focus and concentrate on those elements in your environment that are relevant or important to you, and ignore the rest.

The reticular cortex is activated by a clear goal, command, desire or even a fear on your part.  For example, if you decide that you want to get a red sports car, and you are really excited about the possibility of a red sports car, you will start to notice red sports cars everywhere.  Even a red sports car turning the corner two or three blocks ahead of you will be picked up by your reticular cortex and broadcast to your conscious mind.

What we know about successful people is that they are continually thinking about the things that they really, really want, and as a result, they are commanding their reticular cortex to make them more sensitive and aware to opportunities and possibilities to achieve those goals.

Unsuccessful, or unlucky people, are always concluding that these goals are probably way out of their reach and they unwittingly send the signal to their reticular cortex’s not to pay any attention to ideas or opportunities that crop up in their environments.

One of the ways that successful people are described is, “He or she always seems to know exactly what he or she wants and is determined to get it.”

Unsuccessful people are described as people who have no idea what they really want.

The person with absolute clarity, this key luck factor, will seem to attract far more possibilities and opportunities than the person who has no idea.  So, imagine that this luck factor is like a dimmer switch in darkened room where you are going to throw darts.   As you become absolutely clear about your goals and aspirations, the dimmer switch is turned on to full brightness and the dartboard becomes crystal clear in every detail.  Your likelihood of hitting a bulls eye on such a dartboard is vastly greater than if you were throwing darts from a great distance in a darkened room.

Watch out for next time when I reveal 3 more factors of luck…

Until then,

Brian Tracy

Do you need clarity in figuring out what you want?
With my program, The Power of Clarity, I will show you how to focus and concentrate on your highest value activities. Every day you become like a sniper focusing in on a single shot–the most important thing–rather than a machine gunner that’s trying to do too many things at once. Gain control of your life–Maximize Your Income and Minimize Your Effort.  Learn more today.