So Damn Lucky!

 Folks don't come for a tarot-card reading because everything is great. No, they're troubled. Most of the time it's because they feel they have been shut out from life's goodies. And so I get to study why their wheel of fortune is moving in the wrong direction.

That is, they're not lucky.

What I have found is that, sure, some luck is a given. That goes by the crude phrase "the lucky sperm club." 

Because your father was ABC and not XYZ you have access to the advantages of the upper classes, including healthy nutrition, braces for that bright smile, enlightened medical care, decent education, coaching in presentation of self and a gold-plated network. However, as we bear witness with the Reiner family that doesn't necessarily play out as expected.

More dependable and actually an entity you create is what's known as "encounter luck." That entails setting yourself up to be, well, lucky.

In the 2005 Woody Allen film "Match Point" Chris Wilton positions himself for a ton of luck. A tennis coach Wilton interviews for work at a posh club. Not some low-cost tennis club on the fringes of an inner city. 

There, no surprise, he encounters an old-money client. Multiple doors open, everything from a marriage to the daughter to a plum job in finance. That continuity of good fortune is known as "compounding luck." Once you get lucky, you keep piling on more luck. 

In real life, teenage unknown Dolly Parton put herself out there on high-profile singing circuits. The rest is history.  

That's the MO of not only those with a quick eye for self-interest. But, in this current crazy economy also anyone determined to survive, that is, not wind up the permanent underclass or even homeless.

The classic example is following my number-one adage: Work gets you work. 

Instead of sitting in isolation applying for jobs you grab any job. And then you go on from them. Income comes in so you feel better about yourself. Which means you give off positive vibes. That includes indicating that you're again work-ready. You become aware of your possible marketability beyond what you used to do. Your confidence returns. You're talking with people who could help you. In short, your luck changes.

As luck kicks in compounding accelerates. 

You receive a social invitation. Instead of hanging out in your comfort zone screening movies, you accept. There you hear about an opportunity. You meet so-and-so. 

You decide you better retrain. That goes beyond thinking about it to doing informational interviews. At a school for long-distance drivers you find out that if you commit to two years with an employer the whole licensing process is free. In a downturn that employer doesn't go out of business. The owner puts in charge.

Me? I plugged back into encounter luck when I gave up the magical thinking that somehow if I tried hard enough the content-creation sector would bounce back. That opened me to the reality I could tap into a hobby - tarot reading - as a solid source of income.

Careers. Forget all that. It’s about earning a good living, no matter what.

Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova, StreetSmart Coaching (janegenova374@gmail.com)