By Earl Nightingale

Ever think about the element of luck? We’re always hearing so much about it.  When you hear someone  say,  “He was lucky.  He just stumbled on the idea.”  There may be some truth to it.  But nearly always, the whole truth is that the inspiration would not have come to him if he had not been on the hunt for ideas at the time.

If you want to get lucky, just start developing the habit of thinking, thinking creatively, about things in which you’re interested.

Take the case of Charles Dickens being turned down as an actor, when he wanted to go on the stage, because of his husky voice (due to a head cold), a happenstance that made him become an author instead of an actor.  This might be called a “lucky break” for Dickens, but he might have become an author anyway.

The discovery of coal in America was likewise an out-and-out accident.  A Pennsylvanian hunting in the mountains built his campfire on an outcropping ledge of black rocks, and was amazed when they caught fire and burned.  The discovery of iron in Minnesota in 1892 was far less “accidental”.  The seven Merritt brothers had long tramped the Mesabi Range convinced, by the way their compasses acted up, that worlds of ore lay hidden there.  When their wagon mired down in rusty red mud, they found iron.  But they’d been working toward that goal for nearly ten years.

Wagner was always thinking of new ideas for operas, and yet if he hadn’t gone to sea and ridden through a storm he might never have thought of  The Flying Dutchman.

Mendelssohn stumbled on his theme for Hebrides Overture  when he heard waves lapping into a cave he was exploring.

But these great ideas that flash into people’s minds usually do their flashing only for people who are looking for ideas.  That’s why it’s so important to stay alert for an idea that could change your life – -  in an instant – - for the better.

I worked on a problem for more than a year one time.  One morning, I found myself wide awake.  It was dark outside.  It was two o’clock.  In my mind, clearly and simply, was the answer to the problem I’d been working on.  I got out of bed, went into my study and, sitting down to my typewriter, wrote out the whole thing without stopping.  By ten o’clock, it was finished.  A problem I’d been working on for more than a year, completely solved and finished in eight hours.

Luck does most for those who are working on a specific search, and the more alert they are the more likely they are to take advantage of so-called “lucky breaks”.  A miner’s burro ran away from him.  He picked up a stone, in his anger, and knew by its weight that it was gold.  He’d struck it rich!  But he was looking for gold and knew it when he saw it.

There’s little in the world more fun or more profitable in many ways than hunting for good ideas.  It’s a sport in which anyone may engage and where everyone has the same opportunities.  You might call it an exciting and valuable hobby.

Download “Creative Life Library” and learn how to search for new directions.

Proudly brought to you by The Nightingale Institute of Australia

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