As Luck Would Have It

For as long as I can remember I’ve considered myself to be a lucky person. Even in the midst of some pretty stressful situations I’ve almost always believed that things were going to work out somehow.

I never thought too deeply about this lucky feeling I carry around. That is, until I heard about a ‘luck study’ lead by Richard Wiseman at the University of Hertfordshire. In his work, Wiseman suggests that people aren’t born lucky or unlucky, but neither is luck the result of random chance. Turns out that what we consider to be luck may actually be the result of our own thoughts and behaviours.

Interestingly, people who considered themselves to be lucky had four characteristics in common. They were good at creating and noticing chance opportunities, they listened to their intuition, had positive expectations, and a resilient attitude in challenging situations. 

The ability to notice chance opportunities was also tested in an experiment where participants were given a newspaper and asked to count the number of photos. The (self-professed) lucky group completed the task significantly faster than those who considered themselves unlucky. This result was not because the lucky group could count faster, but because there was a message on the second page that read “Stop Counting – There are 43 Photographs in this Newspaper”. People in the unlucky group were so focussed on the specific task that they failed to notice the unexpected.

So since people aren’t born lucky or unlucky, you may be wondering if we can cultivate a luckier mindset? Well, my favourite part of learning about Wiseman’s research is his ‘luck school’ exercises. These exercises seem to go against some of the typical advice out there, particularly related to goals and habits, but to my delight they do align with a lot of what I share here on the blog!

According to an article on Inc.com, the exercises in luck school involve things like breaking routines, keeping an open mind, and practicing looking on the positive side. The idea behind switching things up and breaking our routines is that it can open up more opportunities for chance encounters and serendipity. For me, routines also end up becoming uninspiring items on a to-do list rather than activities that we get to enjoy and approach with curiosity and play.

As was already shown in the photo counting study, focussing in on specific goals can lead to tunnel vision and close you off to other possibilities that may arise unexpectedly. So keeping an open mind, holding lightly to our goals, and allowing for flexibility in our plans may actually open ourselves up to create and notice more opportunities. This is also great news for those of us who identify as experimental thinkers and prefer a more trial-and-error approach to projects and life in general.

And finally, looking for the good things involves spotting the positives in a situation and seeing how things could have been worse. Although I agree with this in theory, I struggled with it a little at first because it sounds suspiciously like toxic positivity. But I think looking for positives doesn’t require us to ignore pain and negative emotions. I know that I’ve found moments of light in dark times and strength in the struggle. And being able to see the good things will likely make it easier to try new things and expect positive outcomes in the future, whatever they may be.