Some people have all the luck, it seems. And some people are just plain unlucky. But is that really true? Is luck simply a matter of chance? Or is there more to it? Richard Wiseman, Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, and author of bestselling psychology book 59 Seconds, suggests otherwise. In a comprehensive study spanning ten years Wiseman and his colleagues determined that people, for the most part, create their own luck.
How can this be? Wiseman noticed that those who claimed they always seemed to have bad luck also tended to see situations from a glass half empty perspective. Lucky people, on the other hand, “generate their own good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.” This means that lucky people were always on the lookout for opportunities. This doesn’t mean they were encountering more opportunity than unlucky people, they were just more skilled at noticing them. One of the studies conducted asked people of both camps to flip through a particular newspaper and count how many pictures were in the newspaper (there were 42 pictures). However, the researchers added two large ads that took up about half of the page and said: “There are 42 pictures in this paper.” The lucky people noticed the ads, and the unlucky people flipped right past without even noticing.
So can we turn our luck around? According to Wiseman we can. By shifting our worldview to accommodate a more hopeful and positive perspective, we will start to notice more opportunities that present themselves. There are also numerous other things we can do that are scientifically proven to improve our luck including. Here are some tips:
Improve your chance of encountering opportunities by being more social. The networks we create can go a long way in creating opportunity.
Rather than visualizing success as a specific endpoint, imagine the steps necessary to achieve this success. Instead of imagining receiving an A on a test, or getting a promotion, visualize yourself studying intensely in a coffee shop or drafting a business proposal for an idea you have. Create a pathway to success.
Be open to new experiences. Leave space in your life for randomness, don’t get locked into a rut. Be curious. Explore. Always be on the lookout for new opportunity.
Take a chance. This doesn’t necessarily mean risk everything you have, but push yourself outside of your comfort zone. If an opportunity presents itself, act on it. Be prepared to work hard.
Accept that bad things can and will happen. Also, practice seeing the positive side of things. In Wiseman’s studies they found that unlucky people often view bad situations as how they could have been better, while lucky people see the same situations as how they could have been worse. Noticing and accepting the reality that life is often random and unfair and being able to harness positivity despite that fosters a character of resilience.
Recognize what is in your control, and what isn’t. There are some things that you just can’t do anything about. But what things can you do, right here and now? Rather than focus on what is out of your control shift your focus to what is realistically in your control.
The takeaway: Extensive research suggests that luck is created through our perspectives and our approach to life, rather than something that randomly happens to us outside of our control. Look for ways and opportunities to improve your luck in life, and your happiness will likely follow.