I’ve read oodles of stories about people who just seem to attract the most fortuitous circumstances. I read about a woman who always seems to know which slot machines at a casino will be paying out. Or a guy who needed to buy a ticket home but didn’t have enough money. He lined up at the ticket booth anyway, believing that things would work out somehow. The guy in front of him suddenly turned around and asked if he wanted to buy his ticket at a discounted price because he wouldn’t be needing it anymore.

Are stories like these just coincidence? Can people create their own luck? Richard Wiseman conducted a 10-year study with 400 people of different ages and backgrounds. He recruited people who considered themselves either very lucky or unlucky, and examined every detail of their lives. His research revealed that people’s thoughts and behaviors are responsible for most of the good or bad things that happen to them.

Wiseman’s study revealed that unlucky people tend to be more tense and anxious, which hinders their ability to spot lucky breaks. To test this, he gave both lucky and unlucky participants a newspaper and asked them to count the number of pictures inside. On average, unlucky people took two minutes to complete the task, while lucky people finished in seconds. Why? On the second page, in two-inch letters, was a message: “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.” The lucky participants noticed the message and stopped. The unlucky ones missed it entirely and kept counting.

What’s even more intriguing is that Wiseman included another message halfway through the newspaper: “Stop counting, tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.” Once again, the unlucky participants didn’t see it and continued counting, missing out on the reward. This experiment highlights how anxiety and tension can narrow focus, causing people to overlook opportunities that are right in front of them.

[Unlucky] people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and as a result miss other types of jobs. Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than what they are looking for.” (Wiseman, 2003)

So how do lucky people handle bad luck? According to Wiseman, they rely on a strategy called “counter-factual thinking”—imagining what could have happened instead of focusing solely on what did. This perspective helps them reframe negative events in a more positive light. For example, research shows that Olympic bronze medalists tend to be happier than silver medalists. Silver medalists often think, “If only I had tried a little harder, I could have won gold.” Bronze medalists, however, engage in counter-factual thinking: “If I had done slightly worse, I wouldn’t have medaled at all.” By shifting their focus to what they avoided losing, rather than what they could have gained, lucky people maintain a more optimistic outlook, even in tough situations.

The question is, how can you and I start creating luck? Wiseman’s research reveals four principles that help lucky people create their own fortunate circumstances:

#1: Lucky people are open to new opportunities, allowing them to jump on a good chance when it comes around. Wiseman recommends following the example from some of his lucky subjects: Shake up your routine. If you keep hanging around with the same people and going to the same places, you’re more likely to exhaust your opportunities.

#2: Lucky people listen to their intuition and trust their instincts.

#3: Lucky people create positive expectations, which results in a self-filling prophecy. They plant the seeds for success.

#4: Lucky people have a resilient attitude. They are able to see the good in a bad situation, which boosts their motivation, improves their resilience, and keeps their mind focused on success.

But do these methods work? Wiseman asked his unlucky and lucky participants to adopt these four principles and described the techniques that lucky people use (e.g., shaking up their routine). He asked them to start thinking and acting like they were lucky. The result: At the end of the study 80% of the people in the sample were happier, more satisfied with their lives, and, of course, luckier.

After ten years of scientific research my work has revealed a radically new way of looking at luck and the vital role it plays in our lives. It demonstrates that much of the good and bad fortune we encounter is a result of our thoughts and behavior. More important, it represents the potential for change, and has produced that most elusive of holy grails – an effective way of increasing the luck people experience in their daily lives.

– Richard Wiseman

Insightfully yours,

Queen D