Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    CG Creations – in a league of their own
    Hubbell Proctor Designs: The Experience Is Key
    C.D. Peacock to open luxury watch and jewelry store next spring
    Hubbell Proctor Designs: The Experience Is Key
    Shefi continues expansion of bridal lines, fashion
    Why do diamond mines close?
    Why do diamond mines close?
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Gemvision introduces MatrixGold® 3
    Gem-A spotlights gemstone research with latest edition of The Journal of Gemmology
    Artistry, Ltd. celebrating 40th anniversary
    IGI launches new interactive eLearning
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III
    Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part II
    Retailing in a post-PC world
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Communication
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective: I don’t want to be an expert anymore
    Sales Tips by Aleah: Everything is Sales
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective: Doom & Gloom or Boom & Bloom
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    CG Creations – in a league of their own
    Hubbell Proctor Designs: The Experience Is Key
    C.D. Peacock to open luxury watch and jewelry store next spring
    Hubbell Proctor Designs: The Experience Is Key
    Shefi continues expansion of bridal lines, fashion
    Why do diamond mines close?
    Why do diamond mines close?
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Gemvision introduces MatrixGold® 3
    Gem-A spotlights gemstone research with latest edition of The Journal of Gemmology
    Artistry, Ltd. celebrating 40th anniversary
    IGI launches new interactive eLearning
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III
    Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part II
    Retailing in a post-PC world
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Communication
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective: I don’t want to be an expert anymore
    Sales Tips by Aleah: Everything is Sales
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective: Doom & Gloom or Boom & Bloom
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Columnists

Are you lucky? The Luck Factor

Mia Katrin by Mia Katrin
June 5, 2009
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A guy walks into a coffee shop. Self-described as a “lucky guy,” he strikes up a conversation with an actor posing as a millionaire. He leaves the shop with a possible business deal – another lucky day! In this actual British experiment about how behavior can influence chance encounters, another subject, a woman, enters the same shop. She doesn’t smile or strike up a conversation with the same “millionaire” actor planted next to her. She leaves the shop empty-handed. Another “blah” day.

Richard Wiseman’s experiment and book “The Luck Factor” are discussed in February’s Oprah Magazine. According to Wiseman, “Luck is not a magical ability or a gift from the gods… Instead it’s a way of thinking and behaving.” Only about 10% of life is random. The rest is defined by how you think. “Lucky people create, notice and act upon the chance opportunities in their lives.” Being in “the right place at the right time” is actually about being in the right state of mind.

Some people seem to have all the luck – the magic touch. You know them. They float through life. Perfect job, perfect family, perfect home. When that promotion comes up, you know they’ll get it. Just before they take their dream vacation to celebrate. You also know the other type. “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” Even when opportunity starts to gather around them, you can bet they’ll be some difficulty that arises to thwart success.

Recent research indicates that luck may not be as fickle as we think. To a large extent, you create your own luck, according to Colleen Seifert, PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Michigan. As Louis Pasteur phrased it, “Fortune favors the prepared mind.”

How can you increase your Luck Factor?

• Take off the blinders
Opportunity is everywhere. Relax. Open yourself to alternate ways of achieving your goals. Listen to your intuition. How many times have you not followed up on that lead, asked the follow-up question, accepted that invitation, because “it wouldn’t lead anywhere”? Stop negative thinking. We’ve all heard the stories of the modestly dressed, unassuming customer who enters the jewelry store, almost ignored by staff, making the store’s record purchase. We know the truism “Ask and you shall receive.” Don’t forget the first part. You have to ask.

• Imagine
Visualization techniques are rampant for a reason. It’s been claimed that preparing your mind for a certain behavior increases the chances for success by as much as 50%. Be prepared. Do your homework. As you’re about to meet that special client or attend that special social or business event, go over your facts. Know your stuff. Visualize a successful encounter. Advisors coach politicians to practice debates with sample questions and rehearse speeches for a reason. Practice makes perfect. It sets the right gears in motion.

• Increase your sphere of influence
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” As you increase your network of contacts, you correspondingly increase your chances for success. Grow your business and social networks through online sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Join organizations. Attend events. Meet new people. The most successful people have the largest Rolodex. It increases the odds of having the right contact at the right moment.

• Be bold
Fortune favors the bold, according to the traditional Latin proverb. Why? It’s thinking outside the box. It’s moxie. It’s chutzpah. It’s that audacity to do the unexpected, to go one step further. It inspires others. It takes your breath away. It breeds success.

• Smile
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most powerful. Be positive. Be likeable. People like happy people. It’s the essence of charm, of charisma. Nothing succeeds like success.

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus divined, “Man’s character is his fate.” Culturing your good fortune is culturing yourself. They’re intertwined. Success is a self-fulfilling prophecy.


Mia Katrin is an award-winning, internationally celebrated couture jewelry designer, specializing in one-of-a-kind and limited edition high-end necklaces with precious gems in 18-24 karat gold and platinum. Her Collections, which have been worn by A-List Hollywood celebrities, are featured in many top galleries and stores throughout the country, where she regularly hosts Trunk Shows. Contact Mia via her website, http://jeweljewel.com, e-mail info@jeweljewel.com or call (877) JEWEL-MY.

Mia Katrin

Mia Katrin

Mia Katrin’s new agency TheJewelersMarketer.com, helps propel your sales to the top through social media marketing and ecommerce. Free initial analysis and recommendations. mia@jeweljewel.com. Mia is an award-winning designer featured in over 100 top retail stores nationally. www.jeweljewel.com. She’s an industry spokesperson, a byline columnist, and a regular speaker at major trade events.

Related Posts

Motivating your sales staff

IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III

June 22, 2022

Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?

June 20, 2022
Motivating your sales staff

IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part II

June 15, 2022

Retailing in a post-PC world

June 6, 2022

Latest News

What's New

Gemvision introduces MatrixGold® 3

June 22, 2022
Columnists

IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III

June 22, 2022
Other News

Gem-A spotlights gemstone research with latest edition of The Journal of Gemmology

June 22, 2022

Other News

Artistry, Ltd. celebrating 40th anniversary

IGI launches new interactive eLearning

Jewelers Mutual Group names Mike Alexander COO

GN Diamond’s Free Marketing Tools Help Retailers All Year Long

Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?

JCK wraps 30th Anniversary Show in Las Vegas

Southern Jewelry News

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2022 Trade Shows
  • Media Kit
  • Contact

Get Social with Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured Articles
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Sponsored Content
  • Latest News
    • What’s New
    • Industry Events
    • Tradeshow News
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Furry Friends
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.