“Care and diligence bring luck.” ~Proverb  When things aren’t going well for you, it’s easy to blame it on bad luck—to assume other people who are doing better had more help and advantages. Nothing could be less empowering. This line of thinking just confirms that the world is unfair and you have limited control.

While both those things are true on some level—life isn’t fair, and in many ways, we’re not in control—happy people take responsibility and create their own luck, while their unhappy counterparts sit around blaming misfortune, feeling bitter that other people appear to get all the breaks.

Happy people focus on ways to improve their situation, put in the work, and allow themselves to enjoy minor victories.

You could be one of those people.

According to Richard Wiseman, author of The Luck Factor: Changing Your Luck, Changing Your Life, anyone can create their own luck. He argues that our thinking defines far more of our reality than chance. He notes that lucky people:

• Are open to possibilities and act on them
• Listen to their gut instincts
• Expect good fortune, which makes them more likely to recognize it
• “Turn bad luck into good” when things go awry (by seeing blessings in disguise)

Though you can’t think yourself a whole new set of circumstances or manifest the winning lottery numbers, you can create more abundance in your life by changing your attitude and perceptions.

You can do it by taking responsibility for what you have and don’t, without blaming other people or external circumstances. By starting each day open-minded and positive so you see opportunities where other people may see adversity. By expecting the best in people and situations instead of looking for the worst (and finding it—you usually do when you’re looking).

And most importantly, by replacing the words “fair” and lucky” with “possible” and “determined.”

There will always be people who seem to accomplish and gain big things with little effort, just as there will always be people who need to work harder than you.

You can’t control all the advantages you receive, especially not by dwelling on it. You can control your own effort and attention so you see the world as working with you not against you.

You can be luckier by opening your eyes and seizing the opportunities that come your way—even the ones in disguise.

About Lori Deschene

Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha and Recreate Your Life Story, an online course that helps you let go of the past and live a life you love.

“This post was republished with permission from tinybuddha.com. You can find the original post here.”