Youth Counselling

I have no luck at all

I feel like I have no luck at all. If I apply for a scholarship I get rejected while my friends who have applied for various schemes are accepted. Sometimes, I think that people who cheat prosper in life.
Soniya / Chennai

Dear Soniya,

Sounds like you are quite discouraged because of your repeated setbacks and think that luck will never smile at you. Perhaps you also feel envious that your friends seem to easily get what they want.

The biggest obstacle to success is one’s attitude! Successful people are very careful about what they say to themselves. They boost themselves with positive self-talk. They are grateful for what goes well and also for the challenges. So when you keep telling yourself that you have “no luck at all,” it becomes an automatic thought, and becomes true for you, and you defeat yourself!

For success, you need to be very clear about what you really want (instead of wanting something because others are doing it) and what steps you will take to achieve it. When you face obstacles, you have to keep trying. If you don’t succeed, you have to find a new way to get what you want without giving up your values. However, if something is truly not meant for you, then you also need to let go with grace and focus on what is meant for you.

Remember: “What we call luck, is simply pluck… and doing things over and over; courage, will, perseverance and skill are the four leaves of luck’s clover.”

Nasreen Hashambhoy is a Counsellor, Life Coach and a Facilitator of training programmes for schools and corporates. Through a combination of coaching, counselling and facilitation techniques based on cognitive science and positive psychology, she helps clients achieve their true potential. She is the author of the series Values In Action published by Better Yourself Books.

Nasreen Hashambhoy

Nasreen Hashambhoy is a Counsellor, Life Coach and a Facilitator of training programmes for schools and corporates. Through a combination of coaching, counselling and facilitation techniques based on cognitive science and positive psychology, she helps clients achieve their true potential. She is the author of the series Values In Action published by Better Yourself Books.