Can You Learn to be Lucky?
Are you Lucky or Unlucky? Have you always classified yourself as being very fortunate, always in the right place at the right time, or do you always have the worst timing? Do you think it would be possible to change someone from being Unlucky to being Lucky with just practice? I do.
An article written by a British Psychologist, Richard Wiseman concludes that lucky people don’t truly have the Universe in their favor, but rather, they have a way at looking at things that allow them to be in the “right place at the right time.” Whereas unlucky people, even though they may be given the same opportunities as the lucky people, are far more stressed and pessimistic by nature, so they miss the opportunities that are right in front of their eyes. Do you have friends that do this? You want to just smack them across the face and tell them to get their head straight, they are looking at a great opportunity!!!
The unlucky person has a “poor me” attitude, whereas the lucky person has a “what can I create” attitude. Weisman did an experiment in which he invited people that classified themselves as either lucky or unlucky. He gave each group a newspaper and asked them to count the total number of photographs in the newspaper. The Lucky group finished in just seconds but the Unlucky people took several minutes…why? On the second page in 2 in type there was an ad that said “stop reading, there are 43 pictures in this newspaper.” The lucky people spotted it and immediately stopped, but the unlucky people, tunnel visioned and stressed about the task, did not take notice. Was this luck? Some people would say yes.
Wiseman states several findings about unlucky and lucky people:
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Unlucky people often fail to follow their intuition when making a choice, whereas lucky people tend to respect hunches. Lucky people are interested in how they both think and feel about the various options, rather than simply looking at the rational side of the situation. I think this helps them because gut feelings act as an alarm bell — a reason to consider a decision carefully.
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Unlucky people tend to be creatures of routine. They tend to take the same route to and from work and talk to the same types of people at parties. In contrast, many lucky people try to introduce variety into their lives. For example, one person described how he thought of a colour before arriving at a party and then introduced himself to people wearing that colour. This kind of behaviour boosts the likelihood of chance opportunities by introducing variety.
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Lucky people tend to see the positive side of their ill fortune. They imagine how things could have been worse. In one interview, a lucky volunteer arrived with his leg in a plaster cast and described how he had fallen down a flight of stairs. I asked him whether he still felt lucky and he cheerfully explained that he felt luckier than before. As he pointed out, he could have broken his neck.
What are you glancing over? What opportunities are you missing by being either stressed or tunnel visioned? Are you missing beautiful life experiences? Learn to be lucky, and open your eyes to opportunties.
Richard Wiseman is a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire. His book is The Luck Factor
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I just walked away from a six-figure income to pursue the two most important things in my life:
1. Time with My Family
2. Time for Adventure.
I’ve done this all without sacrificing our quality of life!!
I’m redesigning my life to recapture what’s really important, and I want to teach others to do the same!
Won’t you join me on this adventure?