Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In Latin America there are endless traditions to attract luck in the New Year: Wearing red pants to call for love, giving lambs so that the ‘wool’ is not missing, sweeping the door of the house at the beginning of the 12 chimes, having lentils for dinner. that there is abundance, eat 12 grapes for each wish that we want to see fulfilled, etc. However, according to the British psychologist Richard Weisman , luck as such does not exist, what exists is lucky people. He also states that there are people with an attitude in life that makes more good things happen to them, without chance having anything to do with it.

If you are one of those who think that your luck is born with you and is innate, you are wrong. Luck, whether good or bad, you create it yourself.

For that reason, I am going to teach you seven secret methods to attract good luck into your life that are much more effective than living the rest of your life with an amulet or a four-leaf clover.

Remember: your luck is no worse or better than anyone else’s, it depends on you and solely on you.

1. Eliminate negative thoughts

If you are all day lamenting about all the negative things that happen to you and you think that when you leave one another, the same or worse awaits you, then this thought will eventually become reality.

You will think that everything is going against you and you will be so tired of rolling in that loop of dead-end thoughts that in the end you will not fight to change things and improve your life because you think that this is your luck and there is nothing you can do to change it. But, you are wrong.

The way to keep moving forward is to get those negative thoughts out of your head because they are not real. If you do not put an end, you will end up believing them and will be unhappy forever.

2. Don’t close yourself to new opportunities

A person who thinks they are unlucky tends not to identify and take advantage of good opportunities that suddenly arise.

For example, someone who plays many times is more likely to win the lottery than someone who plays once every three months. Or, someone is more likely to find work if they are actively looking for work.

What I want to tell you is that the more you take advantage of opportunities, the more likely you are that good things will happen to you.

3. Get out of your comfort zone

Only those people who decide to experience new things and get out of their comfort zone will have a better chance of having good luck.

Thanks to this great step, you will be able to know yourself more, discover new skills that you did not know, new passions and you will learn to be a little happier doing what you like.

Fear can be a great obstacle that prevents you from launching into the unknown, but if we learn to overcome it, we will achieve things that we could never have imagined.

4. Follow your hunches

One of the reasons why there are “people with bad luck” is because they do not know how to make safe decisions and they do not get carried away by their instincts or hunches.

Instincts sometimes lead to the wrong paths, but according to scientific studies, 80% of the time they will know what is best for your personal and professional field

So listen to your instincts, let yourself be carried away by them and act decisively even if you have to leave your comfort zone and face adversity.

5. If you want new results, don’t take the same steps

Things don’t go the way you want, but you still keep doing things the same way.

If what you want is to get new changes, the first step you should take is to change some habits : live in another city, meet new people, practice a new sport, take a risk in something, etc.

Do not expect to make big changes in a short time, you should start small, changing one or two small habits each week and when you adapt, continue making other bigger changes in your routine. You will see how in this way you get new opportunities.

6. Change your negative mind to a positive mind

Everything has a positive and a negative side, but our mind focuses more on the negative. Try to change this, always looking on the bright side of things. No matter how dark it is, value the positive and give thanks for it.

If you fail with your business, instead of thinking I have failed, shout out loud: I have learned from my mistakes and I will try again.

7. Stay away from pessimistic people

The people you interact with in your day-to-day life can also influence your good or bad luck.

Surrounding yourself with pessimistic and negative people will lower your self-esteem, suck your energy, and make you feel very small. You will not feel motivated by anything, nor will you have restlessness to overcome new challenges.

Identify these toxic people in your life and keep them as far away as possible if you want to have a full and peaceful life.

December
30, 2020

10 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

• The story of someone you trust can save your life or quarantine you for many months.
• If your friend who has already been vaccinated tells you that the medicine works, you will go for the vaccination.
• There are ideological currents that, out of ignorance, slander or look for conspiracy theories where there is none. Better listen to the doctor.

These days many countries have started their vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 . I am happy. First, because many lives will be saved. Second, because at last we have something that can return us to the longed for normality. And third, because humanity has shown that, when it wants, it can cooperate to overcome great challenges.

The saving vaccine paradox

We should be optimistic. But half of my friends and family are fearful or mistrustful. Some tell me they don’t want to be among the first to receive treatment. Others, who will not be vaccinated under any circumstances. We are faced with a paradox: having already the cure, there are those who fear it as much or more than the disease itself.

Maybe you know people like that in your environment. For what it’s worth, it’s a worldwide phenomenon. In September, the Pew Research Center found that 49% of the US population was unwilling to get the vaccine right away. And in Spain, the Sociological Research Center calculated that the proportion of these people grew from 40.3%, in September, to 47%, in November.

The truth is that in many democratic countries vaccination is not compulsory, so for the campaign to be effective, people must want to be vaccinated. And the less we take to convince ourselves, the faster we will achieve “herd immunity” . So what can we do to combat fear and rejection from these people?

Rogers theory

The answer to the question has to do with an already classic theory and with social storytelling. In the 1950s, the sociologist Everett M. Rogers studied the agricultural industry in the United States and discovered that there were innovations that local producers adopted more quickly than others. In 1962, he published a theory that went around the world: that of the “Diffusion of Innovations .”

It goes more or less like this: whenever an innovation appears in a society of well-communicated people, five attitudes can be expected that will manifest themselves successively and over time. These are:

• That of innovative or pioneering people . They are the ones who, without hesitation, will embrace innovation the minute it becomes available.
• That of the first followers . They are the group of those who could not be pioneers, but who will readily accept that they can.
• That of the precocious majority . A massive group waiting to see how the previous two groups are doing with innovation.
• That of the late majority . Another massive group, but reluctant (or without access) to innovation.
• That of the laggards . People who will not accept innovation for fear of change or mistrust.

Rogers estimated the percentage of the population for each attitude (see graph below) and subsequent studies showed that the same pattern was common in settings, industries, and countries around the world.

^{Theory of Diffusion of Innovations by Rogers (1962) and critical leap by Moore (1991) / De Plc.gif: Original creator Vvdberg at nl.wikipedia. Derivative work: Osado – Plc.gif, CC BY-SA 3.0}

A theory with limitations and critics

Nowadays, academics from economics, sociology, or marketing accept the model and apply it to demographic and market studies. Popular culture has accepted it too, as a famous video by Simon Sinek shows .

As a theory, it has not been definitively proven or refuted. In fact, it has been proven that it cannot be applied to certain systems and that it is not enough to explain how some commercial products succeed (the iPhone, for example) and others fail ( the DeLorean , for example). But in 1991, Geoffrey Moore backed up the idea by developing an explanation of why it doesn’t always work and how to overcome the limitation.

I believe that Rogers theory is applicable to the case of vaccines. And that summarizes why almost half of the people in many countries say that they do not want to be the first: it is because they are part of the “late majority” and the “laggards” that, as the previous graph shows, account for 50% of people.

The theory in practice

In democratic countries, where (I insist) getting vaccinated is not mandatory, Rogers’ model predicts that 2.5% of the population will naturally feel “pioneer” and will volunteer within hours of starting the vaccination campaign. They are people who will ask their doctor where they can be treated, even before the first doses arrive in the country. They will do it because they are brave, or because they feel responsible for themselves and others. There will also be those who like to be up to date with everything.

But when the pioneers show that they are still healthy and that the vaccine did not harm them, the “first followers” will arrive. They will not have to be called: they will also volunteer themselves, or ask everywhere when it is their turn. They will line up quite long and offer money (or time) to be vaccinated. And when they do, another 13.5% more of the population will be added to the list of those vaccinated.

Now, what makes an innovation succeed or fail?

This is where the Rogers theory (and the vaccination campaign) comes into play. Earlier I mentioned Geoffrey Moore. He discovered that the success or failure of disruptive innovations (the vaccine is) is determined at a critical point: that of the leap from the “first followers” to the “early majority.”

If the latter accept the innovation, then the vaccine will reach 50% of the population and success will be practically certain. But if not, failure will inevitably follow. Well, what makes the early majority adopt innovation?

Very simple: storytelling! In other words, the story that the “first followers” will tell others about how the experience was for them. That will make the early majorities believe (or not) that the vaccine works.

So forget what the politician or the TV news says. If your brother and friend who have already been vaccinated tell you that the medicine works, you will go to get vaccinated. Because you will see that it works for them and you will not want to be different.

The other way around: if your vaccinated friend tells you that the treatment is not working for him, or that he was treated poorly, or that the substance caused him serious pain, you will not accept the medicine. As simple (and complex) as this: the story of someone you trust can save your life or keep you in quarantine for many months .

What’s the lesson in terms of storytelling?

When getting vaccinated is a voluntary option and it is necessary for people to quickly convince themselves to do so, it is essential to build stories that give confidence. Especially to motivate the “pioneers” and the “first followers” to try.

But then, in the interest of all, we must facilitate communication between these two groups and those who have misgivings. And, in this, I think that we all play a critical role: political authorities, scientists, media and producers of the vaccine. But also you and me, as citizens.

When the authorities, the scientific community and the media spread the success stories and normalize the image of the vaccine, they do a great job. Manufacturers who report favorable and certified results for their products do well too. In Spain, the percentage of people who say they would not take the vaccine decreased to 28% in December. And that is a success.

But you and I also have a role. You should know that every time you share a joke, a cartoon or a meme about the vaccine on your social networks, or that you send cynical comments without having the slightest idea of what you are saying, you contribute to making the “precocious majority” feel less confident and it takes longer to get vaccinated. You are helping the virus to last.

You should also know that there are political groups, lobbies and ideological currents that, from absolute ignorance, slander or seek conspiracy theories where there is none. Their interests are evil and they pursue power and influence, if not evil for evil’s sake.

Better ignore them. Better still if you don’t give them any space in your conversations. Rather listen to your doctor first.

December
24, 2020

6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

There are several legends that surround the origin of one of the most typical flowers of the Christmas festivities, the oldest ensures that the Aztec warriors received them as an offering in case of dying in battle, although a variant of the chronicle points out that Cuetlaxóchitl , as the poinsettia flower was then known, it was given to the soldiers of pre-Hispanic times as a sign of victory.

There is no historical certainty as to which of these two versions is the true one, what we do know is that the ancient Mexica not only used the flower in an ornamental way or in war rituals, since the Cuetlaxóchitl also had a clearly utilitarian function: it served to dye fabrics or leather.

In fact, the Nahuatl word Cuetlaxóchitl means leather flower, although not precisely because of its use to pigment animal skin, but because its star-shaped leaves are as resistant as the aforementioned material.

On the etymology, historians have not agreed, there are those who say that Cuetlaxóchitl actually means flower that withers. The truth is that regardless of its name, or the uses that the ancient Aztecs gave it, the poinsettia flower is one of the contributions that Mexico has made to the world, along with cocoa and tomato among others.

A flower to evangelize

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After the defeat of the Mexica culture at the hands of the Spanish and the beginning of evangelization, the first religious took advantage of the fact that the flowering of Cuetlaxóchitl occurred in the last month of the year, coinciding with the Christian tradition of the birth of Jesus.

Thus, the friars began to use it as part of the evangelization process, asking the indigenous people to harvest it, and then take it to the church as a decoration for the manger.

At that time, the red color of the flower was not considered typical of Christmas, since that chromatic identification emerged until the middle of the 20th century, from the posters and commercial advertisements of a major American soft drink company. In reality, for the Spanish religious the Cuetlaxóchitl was only an instrument through which they got the natives to approach the church, in the understanding that this served to make them abandon their old polytheistic religion.

A thousand names and medicinal uses

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The poinsettia is a shrub between one and three meters high, scientifically called Euphorbia pulcherrima. Its red, orange, green, yellow or cream-colored flowers are actually the bracts that protect the true flower found in the center of its body, where the stem ends, according to the Atlas of Plants of Traditional Medicine Mexican from the UNAM.

It is the most cultivated ornamental plant in Mexico, and the second most important in crops of this type in the United States, only after the orchid. It stopped being wild from the medicinal use that the ancient settlers of the Mexican center and southeast gave it.

In the territory that today occupies Mexico City, and the states of Puebla and Morelos, it was used to increase the secretion of milk in women after childbirth, they prepared it in tea or in a poultice that was smeared on the mother’s back who was breastfeeding.

In Puebla, the decoction of its flowers also served to control vaginal bleeding, and it even had contraceptive uses, according to the ethnobotany of the Atlas of plants already mentioned. In turn, in the State of Mexico and Michoacán, the latex that is extracted from the plant is applied to eliminate warts and petty, as well as fires in the mouth and sores.

It also relieves skin infections and wounds, reduces inflammation from insect bites, while its lemon-roasted leaves eliminate bumps and bruises. Likewise, its use is known to treat respiratory diseases, mumps (mumps), heart conditions and even rabies.

It is logical that such an old plant with so many properties receives different names, among these stand out: In Mexico, Custicpascua Xóchitl (yellow poinsettia), Pascuaxóchitl (poinsettia), poinsettia, and poinsettia stick.

In Argentina it is called a federal star, shepherdess, pascuero, or poinsettia; in Venezuela it is called the parrot, while in Nicaragua it is called a shepherd flower. In some areas of the American Union it is called Christmas star (Christmas star).

In the rest of the world it is known as Poinsetia ( poinsettia in English), in honor of the man who introduced it to the United States in the 19th century: Joel Roberts Poinsett , a doctor, botanist and military man, considered the first ambassador of that country in Mexico, and that in 1828 he took several copies of the flower, thus promoting its internationalization.

A patent flower

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At the beginning of the 20th century, specifically in 1909, the German emigrant Albert Ecke started the mass cultivation of poinsettias in the town of Encinitas, in the state of California.

Over the years, Ecke made various variations on poinsettias, making them not only red or yellow, in fact the plant that is marketed in the United States has a wide range of colors and different shapes in its foliage, thanks to the experiments of Albert Ecke, who patented each of these modifications.

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office , the Ecke family owns about 500 patents for an equal number of variations made to the plant. In fact, for 103 years, the Ecke ranch in Encinitas, California, held a global monopoly on poinsettia flower production.