I think opportunities are being confused with luck.

Sure, some people have more opportunities than others - but it's what you do with them that count.

You make your own luck by working with the opportunities that come your way.

Watch this Derren Brown show (that dude is awesome beyond compare)

It looks at people and their relationship with luck. Really interesting, as most of his programmes are, but it suggested there was a strong link with the willingness to take an opportunity and luck. People who took more opportunities generally saw themselves as luckier, not because they were but because they focussed more on the positive and went for it.
The negative people who shyed away from opportunities perceived themselves to have worse luck as nothing good ever happened (or anything at all for that matter)

I think luck is a perception like most things. Good and Bad things happen everyday. You can either sit ther, analyse and dwell on the past or you can move onto the bigger and better.

I made one new years resolution, to make no personal goals this year, training, self-improvement, home-life and it's working out pretty well.
I'm not focussed on where I think I should be, I'm going where I want to be. I surf more, work out in ways I enjoy more and seem to being having some pretty "good luck" on the lady front. Dont take that like I am not striving, I try to be my best in all that I do, I just let what I do happen though...

I agree with this (not so much the first point) but there's more to it.

You are incredibly lucky to be here. Your parents met at a certain point, fucked at a certain point, that one little sperm swam like a bastard at just the right time. Their parents did too, and each of their parents etc etc etc.

Why does any interaction happen just the way it does? It's not fate, although that's how superstitious people would describe it. It is randomness and chance. Your dad could have never met your mum if... well there are infinite different ways in which all your ancestors lives could have taken a different path.

That hot chick you banged last week. She could have stayed at home that day. You could have gone somewhere else that day or 5 minutes before you saw her. Your taxi could have turned up early. One of her mates could have been having 'issues'. We could go on and on and on but we don't need to as we can't possibly know all the different combinations or even just a tiny part of all this randomness, and we shouldn't even try to. But we should know that all this randomness and chance does exist without knowing any of the detail whatsoever.

Why? Because if we can go anywhere and chat to anyone, not just hot chicks while we are 'gaming', and be the same cool and awesome guy whatever the situation or location, then we open ourselves up to so much more of this chance and randomness, and more possibilities will arise in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. This is what I would say it is to get lucky

So, luck is not only working with the opportunities that come your way. It is being in a position where many more opportunities are presented and then taking advantage of such opportunities.



daleinthedark, I remember seeing that Derren Brown show about luck. It was OK, but let's not forget that he is a showman and it wasn't a documentary. Derren engineered the situations where the opportunities were presented to those people (quite a few didn't even register what was happenening as an opportunity. Muppets!) so if anyone can be called lucky it is Derren himself. The guy he eventually chose felt luckier because he took the opportunities, but to be really lucky we should not only grab these opportunities but also live a life such that more opportunities do come our way.

I do often wonder about how engineered his situations are as he does seem like a genuine guy but then in programmes such as "Miracles for Sale" you see a more ruthless showman in him.

As for the living a life such that more opportunities come our way, it's what I am trying to get at with the not setting goals - personally I find that setting a goal sets such a focus that I often miss out on loads because I am "blinkered".
This year alone without goals, I have gotten a promotion at work & increased department turnover & profit, gotten over bad depression, learned a little ukulele, surfed more, had more lays than any year of my life just using a general guide of "will this be fun?"