I should be so lucky ...

Lucky, lucky, lucky

Ok, I apologise for the Kylie reference but it had to be done.


Have you ever won something in a raffle so good that you did actually think “oh my god, how lucky am I?”  We’re not talking about a pen, which I did once win in a church raffle, it was multicoloured and very nice and as grateful as I was it wasn’t a ‘wow’ prize as I’m sure you’ll agree.

Anyway, way back in November 2018 at the British Athletics Supporters Club annual dinner, they had a raffle. In fact they have it every year and it’s become a bit of a standing joke that we never win diddly squat in it and they really do have some amazing prizes so we’ve been ‘well jel’ on numerous occasions.  So last year we had our usual 'woe is us' joke and settled down to sportingly, albeit begrudgingly, applaud the winners.  Mr Bob takes the photos of all the prize winners so he has an even better view of their happy faces.  The prizes were starting to get a little bit tasty as the raffle headed towards the last few. “Pink, number 430”.  I glanced down at my ticket, looked up, hang on a minute, glanced down again.  It was my number!!! 



This now brings me back to the weekend and where we’ve been. I’d only gone and won tickets to the Muller Anniversary Games in London for July 2019. The creme de la creme of the athletics championships in the UK since the meeting  was started to celebrate the anniversary of the 2012 Olympics and where the top world athletes compete. 

We have had THE most incredible time and as die hard athletics fans it doesn’t get much better than having the best view in the stadium. We weren’t just in with the common or garden corporate hospitality either, nope we were in the  full blown VIP section rubbing shoulders with senior people from sports federations and former athletes that I grew up watching and admiring, such as Sally Gunnell, Roger ‘phwoar’ Black and Lord Seb Coe!!!!


We saw some incredible performances from the athletes and as I sat there at the end of the day with my cold Moretti (other beers are available, my favourite being Leffe Brune and I'm also quite partial to a Peroni), I began to ponder 'was it really down to luck that I had won these tickets?'


The thing is, I'm a firm believer that we create our own luck.  Alright, I couldn't have willed myself to win those tickets but there were a few things that had led me to that point and my odds of winning were increased.  For example, we chose to join the British Athletics Supporters Club, we choose to attend their annual dinner every year and we also choose to enter the raffle.  Those three things alone had already increased my chances of winning something.  You see, you really do have to be in it to win it as the saying goes.  So when you do win something, is it really down to luck or the odds of probability?  

Want to increase your own chances of being 'lucky'?  Here's three tips to set you on your way and you never know what might be waiting round the corner for you.
  • Widen both your social and professional network.  The more connections you have and the more you speak to people, the more likely they are to think of you when opportunities come along involving things that you've said you're interested in.
  • Keep an open mind.  Is your good luck really luck or was it that you seized an opportunity that then led to something great?  Always be on the look out for new opportunities.
  • Create your own luck through sheer determination and hard work.  How many times have you heard someone say "oh I was lucky, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time", to then discover that they'd been grafting away for years before then in order to get them to that place.
Have a great week and be lucky, or rather, be an opportunist!!

#jubilantjuly

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