You know, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what it really means to “attract” joy and abundance. It sounds almost mystical, doesn’t it? Like you just think happy thoughts and the universe delivers a check to your door. But from my own experience, and from observing what truly works for people, I’ve found it’s far more practical. It’s a daily practice, a set of skills you build, almost like leveling up a character in a favorite game. I was recently reading a piece about the new Borderlands game, and a line really stuck with me. The reviewer said that while you can’t know how the characters stack up until you’ve put in the hours, for once, they didn’t feel the need to steer new players away from any option. Why? Because “each Vault Hunter is fun to play because they all feel powerful and can stand on their own or make meaningful contributions to a team, and it feels rewarding to learn and master each of their respective abilities.” That’s it. That’s the perfect metaphor for building a happy and abundant life. It’s not about picking the one “correct” path everyone says you should. It’s about finding the toolkit—your unique abilities—that feels powerful to you, that lets you contribute meaningfully to your own life and the lives of others, and then committing to the rewarding, sometimes slow, process of mastering it. So, let’s talk about how to actually do that, to truly unlock your happy fortune. Here are seven practical steps I use and recommend.
First, you have to define what “joy” and “abundance” mean for you, right now. Not what a guru or your Instagram feed says. For me, abundance one year was simply having a consistent freelance income that covered rent and groceries with a little left over for a nice coffee. Joy was thirty minutes of quiet reading in the morning. Get specific. Write it down. This is your character’s skill tree. Without this clarity, you’re just mashing buttons hoping something cool happens. Next, and this is non-negotiable, you must cultivate a baseline of gratitude. I don’t mean just listing three things before bed, though that’s a great start. I mean actively looking for evidence that good things are already present. When I started doing this, I aimed for five concrete things every single day. The warmth of the sun on my skin, a productive 20-minute work sprint, a laugh with a friend. This isn’t Pollyanna-ish; it’s neural retraining. You’re teaching your brain to scan for what’s working, which is fundamental to attracting more of it.
Now, let’s talk about action, because fortune favors the bold, as they say. You must take one small, tangible action daily toward your defined goals. It can be tiny. Sending one email, researching a class, organizing your desk, taking a walk for fresh ideas. This is where you “learn and master” your abilities. That reviewer noted how rewarding that process is in the game, and it’s profoundly true in life. The action itself generates momentum and a sense of capability. You start to feel powerful, just like those Vault Hunters. You’re building proof for yourself that you can influence your own outcomes. My third step is always to audit your inputs. What are you consuming? The news, social media, the conversations you have. If you’re pouring anxiety and comparison into your mind, you cannot expect joy and abundance to flow out. I did a brutal cleanse a while back, unfollowing about 200 accounts that made me feel inadequate or angry, and limiting my news intake to 15 minutes in the morning. The mental space that opened up was incredible—it was like clearing clutter from a room so new furniture could be brought in.
Here’s a step people often resist: design your environment. Your surroundings are a constant, silent feedback loop. If your space is chaotic and draining, your energy will be too. I spent one weekend just… fixing things. A broken drawer, a burnt-out lightbulb, creating a dedicated, pleasant corner for work. I probably spent less than $50, but the psychological shift was worth thousands. You’re building a world that supports your fortune, not fights it. Fifth, practice radical ownership. This means stopping the blame game—on the economy, your boss, your upbringing. When you own your responses and your next move, you reclaim your power. It’s the difference between feeling like an NPC in your own story and being the player character who can make meaningful contributions. It’s hard, but it’s everything.
The sixth step is about connection. True abundance multiplies when shared. Invest in your team, whether that’s family, friends, or a community of like-minded people. Offer help without immediate expectation of return. Share a useful resource. Celebrate someone else’s win. This creates a network of reciprocity and support. It makes the journey more fun and less lonely, and often, opportunities flow through these very channels. Finally, you must build in rest and reflection. You can’t be in constant grind mode. I schedule downtime as fiercely as I schedule work time. This is when your subconscious connects dots, when joy can simply be experienced without being a goal. Every Sunday, I reflect on the week—what worked, what didn’t, what brought me genuine satisfaction. This weekly audit, which takes maybe 20 minutes, is how I adjust my course and appreciate the progress, no matter how small.
So, there you have it. It’s a daily practice, not a magic spell. Just like you wouldn’t expect to master a Vault Hunter’s complex skill set in five minutes, don’t expect to rewire your life overnight. The power comes from the consistent, rewarding practice of showing up for yourself. You try different “builds,” you see what makes you feel strong and contributive, and you stick with it. The joy is in the mastery of your own daily life. The abundance follows as a natural result of that focused, positive action. Start with one step today. Define your joy. Express gratitude. Do one small thing. This is the practical, grounded, and deeply effective path to unlock your happy fortune. It’s already within your ability; you just have to start playing, and more importantly, enjoying the process of becoming who you are meant to be.