By Alex Rovira and Fernandos Trias de Bes

We once heard a mathematics professor state, "The parameters of luck are unknown to us." In other words, luck can't be explained by any specific factor, it's a matter of chance. We thought the statement made a lot of sense, but we were intrigued by the notion that what we call "luck" could be explained by a set of variables or elements that had not yet been studied. So we decided to carry out our own research.

What we did was relatively easy: We spoke at length with people who thought their lives had been blessed by good fortune, our goal being to try and figure out what factors they had in common. After four years of interviews and research, we could clearly identify a list of shared traits, ones we will shortly examine in greater depth.

WHOM FORTUNE FAVORS.  But first, an additional word of explanation: When undertaking our project, we decided to study of biographies of "prosperous" personalities ("prosperous" understood in its broadest sense). We studied not only individuals enjoying good marriages or financial wealth, but also those who have made valuable contributions to society and who see their own lives as being filled with creativity, self-fulfillment, and meaning. By taking this tack, we were able to include artists, scientists, and athletes in our sample.

What our research revealed can be summarized in a single simple sentence: We make our own good luck.

What these creators of good luck have in common can be summarized in the following five main principles:

• Responsibility
If there is a common factor that is evident among all the creators of good luck, it is that they know themselves to be responsible for their own actions. In other words, when things go wrong or the outcome of any given situation is other than intended, they never point the finger of blame at external factors or other individuals. Instead, they look to themselves and ask, "What have I done for this to occur?"

Free of any kind of "victimism," when they run into personal or professional difficulties, they ask themselves how and to what extent they are responsible for the situation in which they find themselves? Then they act accordingly to solve whatever adverse circumstance they have encountered. This is where the second principle comes in.

• Learning from Mistakes
Creators of good luck don't see a mistake as a failure. Instead, a mistake is an opportunity for learning. Thomas Edison is the classic example. History tells us that the inventor made more than 1,000 attempts before inventing the first long-lasting electric light bulb. Until then, all his trials and experiments led to durations of no more than a few minutes before air would filter into the glass bulb, supplying the oxygen that led to the combustion of the various filaments he tried.

The story goes that one of Edison's colleagues asked him, "Mr. Edison, don't you feel you are a failure?" Lacking any sense of vanity, the great man answered, "Not at all. Now, I definitely know more than a thousand ways how NOT to make a light bulb."

Sure enough, just a few days later, the man whose brainstorms would remake the world finally turned his inspiration into a practical concept. By the way, the very first light bulb was invented by Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, who demonstrated the theoretical concept but gave up trying to develop a practical application after only three attempts. By contrast, Edison made his own good luck and designed a working light bulb. This takes us to our third principle.

• Perseverance
Creators of good luck don't give up. They don't postpone. They don't "leave it for another day." The formula is quite simple: When a problem or situation arises that requires attention, they act immediately. And what they do is one of the following three things: they either solve it without delay, delegate, or forget about it.

In other words, they don't carry a list of "things to do" in their brain. Instead, they resolve problems and situations as quickly as possible. This enables their energy to be fully focused on their work and avoid conscious or unconscious distractions, which only generate inefficiency.

Continued on next page>>  | 1 | 2