Create Your Own Luck

Over the last month or so, there was a lot of hype surrounding Derren Brown’s series ‘The Events‘.

While the series was thoroughly entertaining/annoying (delete as applicable), choosing lottery numbers or the correct number at roulette is very much a game of chance.

photo by conorwithonen

photo by conorwithonen

But there are many things you can do to create luck.  It won’t help you win the lottery, but it can give your life a real boost.  And when bad luck does come your way, a positive luck-searching attitude can turn your fortunes around pretty quickly.

I had a look for some links around the blogosphere about improving your luck by creating it yourself and found some great posts for you.

Of the four posts I’ve chosen, three mention a book by Dr Richard Wiseman, The Luck Factor.  Pretty good going!

  1. Alex Shalman – 10 Practical Ways To Make Your Own Luck
  2. Stepcase Lifehack – How To Be Lucky
  3. How To Have Great Self Confidence – Build Self Confidence by Being Lucky?
  4. Life Optimizer – A Simple Tip to Get Good Luck

As if that isn’t enough to chew on, here’s a bonus link for you to enjoy.  With more information from The Luck Factor, you can download The Complete Guide to Luck (9.4Mb PDF).  The PDF has worksheets and lists to help you create as much luck as possible.

All that’s left to say is, er, good luck!

photo by Jason Nicholls

photo by Jason Nicholls

Make your work rock and get your creative juices flowing!

Whether you’ve got a few days or a few months to hand something in, there’s always enough time to get creative and produce quality work.

photo by h.koppdelaney

photo by h.koppdelaney

But it’s often so difficult to shine?  Life gets in the way, there’s so much other stuff to distract you, simply starting a project is a pain, the little perfectionist in you has niggling doubts, etc., etc.

Let’s check out some of the ways you can shove those distractions and problems out of the way:

  • Focus on the work in hand – It’s a willpower thing (or Inner Slacker thing).  There’s so much going on around you that it’s insanely difficult to ignore it.  But when you clear nearby distractions, get others out of the way, and isolate yourself from interruption and noise, it doesn’t take long before the work gets a lot easier to deal with. Honest! 🙂
  • Remember that the hardest part is the start – When it feels like hell even starting the work, you then wonder how horrible it’s going to be when you actually get on with it.  Rest assured, once you have the courage to get on with it, everything else comes naturally.  The first hurdle is the biggest one.  The rest of the way isn’t so bad.
  • Move on when you’re stuck – You’re bound to face difficulties in your study.  There are times when something doesn’t sound right, or you struggle to find a way of backing up a point.  Don’t let it hold you up!  When you face a block, make a note of it and come back to it later.  Much better to get everything else out of the way and work on the annoyances later.  You’ll be more focused on those aspects in isolation anyway.
  • Don’t let your Internal Editor get in the way – Another thing that holds us up is our wish to get it right FIRST TIME.  It’s like our brain hasn’t heard of ‘rough drafts’!  The editing process should come later, after you’ve got everything else out in the open.  The longer you agonise over a word or the structure of the coursework, the further away you get from getting the work done.  Edit later.  Piece everything together later.  Your Internal Editor can wait!
  • Don’t do it all in one session – Students who leave an essay to the last minute end up having to do everything in one go.  It’s one of the worst ways of working, but last-minute essay writing is common.  Start as soon as possible on your coursework and complete it over time.  Short sessions are less daunting and help you target specific areas of your work each time.  If you genuinely work better in much longer sessions, remember to take regular breaks from the study.  And do the work as soon as you can…don’t leave it until the day before, when it’s stressful and when you’re in danger of running out of time.
  • Mix it up! – Nobody else can tell you how to put your work together.  Do you like to write the Conclusion first?  If so, do it first!  Does the Introduction come naturally to you when it’s the last part of the creative process?  Is so, do it last!  Work to the order that works best for you.
  • If in doubt, get help – Don’t feel bad when you don’t understand what’s required.  If a question doesn’t make sense or if you can’t get your head around a concept, your tutors should be happy to help.  Make sure you know what you want to ask and what help you’re looking for and, armed with this information, ask away.
  • Your answer is not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ – Move away from thinking about the ‘right’ answer.  What you’re trying to do is support an argument, explain a function, analyse a concept, and so on.  Critical thinking is not black or white.  It’s all about the shades of grey.
  • Stop fearing the worst – The work you do is private at first.  Nobody is looking over your shoulder.  Well, they shouldn’t be anyway.  So it doesn’t matter what you write down and it doesn’t need to be perfect.  There’s no need to panic about it; just get all your thoughts and quotes and ideas and workings and illustrations out in the open.  Even if loads of the output is rubbish, you’ll have all the good stuff sorted too.  Take the good stuff and shape it into something big.  You don’t have to tell anyone else about the other rubbish you put out.  That’s your own little secret.  It’s the quality stuff that makes you the hero…

These are just some ideas to get the creative juices flowing.  What do YOU do to get those ideas from your head to the page?

photo by SashaW

photo by SashaW

Get ahead and become futureproof

Graduates are getting a bad deal right now.  Upon graduating, not only do they owe tens of thousands of pounds (usually), but they also face an unforgiving job market.

photo by .Jennifer Leigh.

photo by .Jennifer Leigh.

You should, as a student, have taken notice of this.  It’s worrying, yes, but you can do something about it.  Stand up and be counted.  What’s stopping you from thinking about your professional future?

Whether you have a clear career in mind, you want to start your own business, or if you don’t have a clue where your future is headed, you can start taking bold steps toward futureproof strength.

You may be sick of hearing me say that a degree in isolation isn’t enough to walk in to the job you want, but it’s true.  You need to show more commitment and drive before getting where you want to be.

Whatever stage you’re at as a student, you can build up your profile while learning more about yourself and understanding how to get what you want.  Here are 10 things you should do:

  1. Join professional associations – Hobbies, interests, career goals…there are professional associations for most things.  Even if you don’t know what your passions are, you won’t be arrested for checking (and even joining) the associations that may become a regular part of your life in years to come.  If something interests you, get looking for relevant associations and get involved.
  2. Get the lowdown on other interesting trade associations and membership groups – If you know what field you’d like to pursue a career in, check out the Trade Association Forum’s Directory, which lists the trade associations out there.  Not sure what the future holds?  Well, you can gain experience from groups such as Toastmasters International, which helps people develop their speaking and presentation skills.  And since you’re almost certainly a member of the NUS, why not get more involved in the wonderful work they do for students?  Joining groups and causes are fun, they help you develop socially, and you’ll have a much punchier set of credentials to list on your CV.
  3. Go to conferences – One word…Networking.  Conferences bring together leaders in numerous fields, amazing minds, and like-minded people.  Get talking, share ideas and learn from one another.
  4. Go to the online equivalent of a conference…Twitter – I’m simplifying Twitter here, because it’s more than a mingling opportunity.  However, if you want to network from the comfort of your desk (or library, or phone, or whatever), it’s good to Tweet.  Just find relevant people to follow and get involved in the conversation.
  5. Work on your CV as a rolling document – If you only update your CV when you need to send one off, it doesn’t give you much time to big yourself up as well as you deserve.  Add to your CV whenever you join a new association, you gain a new qualification, you learn a worthwhile skill or language, and keep thinking of examples to outline the skills and experience you already have.  It’s never too early to start working on your CV!
  6. Read up further on your specialist subject – Whether your specialist subject is related to your degree, or based on something you do in your spare time, do more reading up on the subject.  Find out the latest news and keep abreast of what’s going on.  Check the library to see what journals they have access to (including online access portals). If you don’t stay updated on the latest developments in your field, it won’t look good to a potential employer.  The sooner you start exploring, the easier it will be in the long run.
  7. Keep tabs on updates in your field – As well as reading, what events are taking place near you?  Find out who is contributing most and explore what their take is.  Do you agree with them, or do you have a totally new idea?  Make notes, argue, engage.  Active involvement helps an active mind and could even help get you noticed too.
  8. Consider further relevant education – It may be too early for this one, especially if you’re only in your first year at uni.  However, you may be required to study beyond your current degree in order to make a go of some careers.  Before you get too excited, find out what you need to do to reach your goal.  The careers advice peeps should be able to give you more information and advice.
  9. Spend at least 10 minutes every day on becoming a bigger part of your field – You may be busy, but 10 minutes won’t hurt.  It’s not much, but if you did something small each day (write, read, have a conversation, plan, whatever!), you’d get slowly closer to building a reasonable platform.  From finding 10 minutes difficult to achieve, you’ll either discover that 10 minutes is just another (important) part of your day, or you’ll commit more time to the cause without even noticing.  Once you start, there may be no stopping you!
  10. Assess your position on a regular basis to avoid going stale – We all get into a rut at times.  Sometimes for silly reasons.  Other times we don’t realise that we’ve progressed as far as we can go with the current setup.  As you work through uni, you can be forgiven for taking your eye off the more distant future.  But keep tabs on what’s working for you and be prepared to move onwards or move upwards.  And if you’d rather drop things now you’ve got as far as you need, that’s just as positive.  But make sure you continue using the time wisely on the important things in your life.  If I hear you’ve been watching daytime TV or spending longer in bed…
photo by SeRVe61

photo by SeRVe61

What it means to “Just Be Yourself”

How many times do you hear the advice, “Just be yourself” uttered as if it’s a magical solution to all social woes?  If I could be given a pound every time I hear or see that advice doled out to a Fresher…

How can I succeed socially?  What do I need to do to fit in?  “Just be yourself” is the key, apparently.

In a way the advice is good, but it’s pretty meaningless in isolation.  People don’t act the same in front of everyone, so does that mean we don’t practice the advice?  Can you be anything but yourself?  Are you expected to become a two-dimensional character with only one persona?

photo by Denise Carbonell

photo by Denise Carbonell

A better way to think of the advice “Just be yourself” is this:

“Be Genuine”

To be genuine is to do the things you believe in and want to be accepted for.  There’s no need to pretend that you like something you don’t.  You don’t have to try and act tough, or loud, or quiet, if that isn’t how you want to act.  At university, anyone who won’t accept you as a person with a unique personality is someone not worth your time.

So it is wise to be yourself, but you have to understand what being yourself truly means.  You don’t act the same way in a study group as you would with a family member.  Likewise, you wouldn’t speak to most lecturers the same way you’d speak to your best mate.

And that’s how it should be.  Altering your actions between different people doesn’t mean you’re rude to one lot and not the other.  It doesn’t mean you tell one person what you believe in and then tell someone else that you believe the exact opposite.  It’s about relating to others with a genuine approach.

Firstly, how can you be genuine?

  • Don’t worry about what other people think – Respect the opinions of others, but don’t let them push you in a different direction if you don’t agree;
  • Don’t compare yourself to other people – It’s difficult enough understanding how you’ve reached your own position in life, so how could you work out anyone else’s? Someone else may look more successful than you, but they may have problems you can’t even imagine.  And there are probably people out there who think you’ve got it made, when they don’t know the half of it.  Comparisons are pointless, because you don’t have all the information;
  • Listen to yourself – Be positive about your likes and dislikes. Work out what interests you and what makes you happy to wake up every morning.  It all goes toward your individual personality.  You don’t have to be or do anything you don’t want to.  So listen to what you love and enjoy each day striving for more of those things;
  • Accept when you’re wrong – Nobody is perfect, so take the rough with the smooth;
  • Be open – You don’t have to tell everyone every last detail about your life.  There are people who, when I met them for the first time, decided to tell me all sorts of private (and sometimes, upsetting) detail of their life so far.  That’s not the point of being open.  An open attitude is when you don’t hide behind a façade, when you don’t hold back from what you enjoy.

A genuine personality takes the situation in front of them, stays constant in what they believe, states their true opinions, and gives the same respect to everyone, but does this in varying ways.  The trick is having the confidence to interact with many different people in ways that they can relate to, while you maintain your own personal views.

Which brings us to the second question.  How do you relate to others?

  • Listen – People like to talk about themselves and they like to answer questions.  So stop talking so much, start listening and ask a few questions.  This alone is a big deal.
  • Respect – Not everybody is like you.  It’s fine to respectfully disagree with another person’s views.  Respect helps relations.  You don’t need to dismiss someone because they don’t agree with you.  And vice versa!
  • Be humble – Modesty and courtesy can go a long way.  Whether you’re crazy and loud, or quiet and reserved, be who you want so long as you accept that others can be too.  There’s no need to compete or outshine others.  If others want to compete, let them do that while you go elsewhere to have some proper fun.

Don’t hold back.  Have the strength to be genuine and situations are easier to deal with, not more difficult.  Acceptance comes more freely when you’re happy to fight your corner.

photo by artschoolgirl27

photo by artschoolgirl27