Psychologist Richard Wiseman completed a ten-year study to figure out why some people, even smart ones, are luckier than others. He explains how and what he found in illuminating detail in Be Lucky —It’s an Easy Skill to Learn” in the Telegraph.

The gist: people who generate good luck practice four essential principles. They invariably are:

—skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities

—make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition

—create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations

adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good…

 

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According to Wiseman, part of luck is very much about mind-set as illustrated by the four principles above. People who view themselves as unlucky tend not to follow their intuition in making choices. Lucky people listen to internal hunches and risk acting on them. Unlucky people also tend to follow routines more than lucky people. In embracing more variety in their lives, lucky people may open themselves to more opportunities. Unlucky people tend to be more tense, and that tension keeps them “locked” rather than fluid and open.

Wiseman showed that being unlucky is not a fait accomplis. Being lucky can be practiced:

I asked a group of lucky and unlucky volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person. These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck.

One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80 per cent of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier.

 

The key word is luckIER. We think Wiseman’s principles would result in that for sure.

Practice luck.

via 99U

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One thought on “Four Principles for Generating Good Luck

  1. this is wonderful
    thank you

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