Lucky Luck

Submitted by tomrue on

(from Psychology Today)

Putting faith in luck can be seen as ceding control of destiny to the universe. But luck is not the same as chance. People who believe luck works in their favour are motivated to try challenging tasks and persist at them, according to new research by Maia Young at UCLA. "The more you think of luck as a stable personal trait, the more you feel personal agency," Young says. And feeling in control breeds confidence.

You can also practice specific strategies to make luck work for you. By studying lucky people, Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire in the UK has distilled four steps to good fortune.


  • BREAK ROUTINE: Meet new people; walk a different route to work. New experiences offer fresh opportunities.

  • TURN BAD INTO GOOD: If something upsetting happens, consider how it could have been worse, and try to draw something positive from it.

  • TRUST YOUR GUT: Decisions informed by intuition often produce happier outcomes. Meditation can quiet the noise around your hunches.

  • LOOK UP: Positive expectations are often self-fulfilling because they increase motivation and persistence.

Related Links

The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman, The Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 2003 - "A ten-year scientific study into the nature of luck has revealed that, to a large extent, people make their own good and bad fortune. The results also show that it is possible to enhance the amount of luck that people encounter in their lives.

Born lucky? The relationship between feeling lucky and month of birth, Personality and Individual Differences, 39 (2005), 1451-1460: "Research suggests that season of birth is associated with several psychiatric and neurological disorders, and also with adult monoamine neurotransmitter turnover."

More on the Psychology of Luck by Richard Wiseman, University of Hertfordshire, UK