Stop Telling Me That I Am Lucky

“You’re so lucky, Susanne!” Well, I’m not lucky. I’m determined and stubborn. If I wan’t something, I simply go after it. When I sold everything I owned, moved across the world to pursue my dreams, many people said that I was very lucky. 

But guess what, I didn’t win a ticket to Australia, no one else applied for a visa for me. No one did the preparation it took to uproot my life in Norway. Luck didn't bring me here, my own actions did. Everyone can do what I did, if they want to.

It’s not an opportunity that just popped up in front of me, like I had won the lottery. It’s something I decided that I wanted to do and I just did it. The same goes for my job, which is lying on the beach scribbling down thoughts for Steemit posts. 

I’m not lucky to have Steemit as a job. I worked hard on pictures, writing, editing and research. I decided that Steemit was something I wanted to do. If you really want something, you'll figure out a way to do it. No matter what. (So, maybe I don't really want to quit eating chocolate.)

I’ve always thrown around the word lucky and luck recklessly. I thought it was nice to tell someone that they were so lucky to score that job that they wanted. But honestly, it has nothing to do with luck. That person was hired because of the skills they had acquired on their own and because they nailed the job interview. That’s not luck, it’s a result of some good choices. The choice the person made to study or learn something, the choice of a decent outfit for the interview and the time that person chose to spend on a kick ass job application. 

I met @joshstinton in Norway in August. I said something about luck and he told me his interesting views on that word. Josh is really good at public speaking, unlike me, and he did a wonderful talk about luck. He totally changed the way I use those the words luck and lucky. I challenge him to write a post about it, because it was truly inspiring. And it has changed the way I view my life too.

Follow @joshstinton, he is the boss! 

I don’t feel lucky anymore. I feel proud of myself and my decisions and I also feel very grateful for a lot of things.

There is one type of exception: if a tile falls from the roof and misses your head by a centimeter, you could say that you were lucky.

But you could also praise yourself for having a brisk walking pace :)

Susanne