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5 Ways to Be Luckier at Work

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Even if you’re not particularly superstitious, it’s easy to ascribe the things that happen to you in your career to luck (either good or bad). In fact, you can make your own good luck at work, just by making a few simple changes in your life.

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(Photo Credit: angeladellatorre/Flickr)

1. Work hard.

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Thomas Jefferson once said, “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” Working long hours isn’t enough by itself to guarantee success, of course — but it’s nearly impossible to achieve your goals without it.

2. Make connections.

Think about your luckiest friend. Unless you happen to know someone who won the lottery recently, odds are that he or she has a wide network of friends, former co-workers, and professional connections to rely on when it’s time to find a new job or move to a different city or start a business venture. It’s easier to find support when you cast a wide net.

3. Think positive.

If hearing about the power of positive thinking makes you roll your eyes, consider this: in the history of business, it’s rare to find an inspirational figure who achieved more than they were able to envision. If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else?

4. Be open-minded.

Lucky people “are open to meeting anyone, anytime,” writes Bob Miglani at The Huffington Post. “Talking openly to anyone who’ll listen to their ideas, lucky people smile and engage — opening up their minds to chance meetings with strangers where one thing can lead to another.”

5. Cultivate resiliency.

What’s the difference between successful people like Sir Richard Branson and Bill Gates and the rest of us? The willingness to fail and the ability to bounce back from that failure. Practice forgiving yourself, analyzing why failures happened, and moving on to the next thing.

Tell Us What You Think

Do you have “good luck” at work, and if so, why? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt
Read more from Jen

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