Luck

William R. Colagrande, MS

Luck. Have you ever stopped to consider what role luck has played in your life? Do you consider yourself a lucky person? Do you know others whom you might describe as being lucky or unlucky? What forces are in operation where luck is concerned? Is luck something we can influence or create?

A strictly rational perspective would tend to downplay the existence of luck. Say somebody wins eight million dollars in the lottery; rationally you can understand that someone had to win. The winner though would probably be inclined to make more out of it than that; from his highly subjective experience winning would be something approximating a miracle, and he’d be correct. Perception plays a large role in coming to terms with the concept of luck.

Do you have any lucky objects that comprise some small part of your life: a lucky hat or tee shirt, a lucky coin, a four-leaf clover or a horseshoe? Do you avoid opening an umbrella indoors, stepping on cracks or walking under ladders? Are you attempting to influence unseen forces that are at work on some mysterious level of the universe? If so, you are by no means alone. Belief in luck dates back thousands of years and evidence of its power is found in nearly all cultures past and present. Some claim prayer is an adaptation by organized religions of primitive folk traditions for attempting to influence the outcome of events perceived as outside of their locus of control.

Psychological research of the topic is scarce, but I did find some interesting notions put forth by a British psychologist named Richard Wiseman. His research suggests that there are significant differences between lucky and unlucky people. Lucky people seem more open to new experiences; they are prepared to take risks and are relaxed enough in their approach to life to see new opportunities. Unlucky people are those who get stuck in routines. This finding flies in the face of the conventional notion that focus and drive are keys to success and the wisdom ascribed to Thomas Jefferson who said: The harder I work, the luckier I become.

Viewing luck in this way is more about being open to subtle cues in the environment and relying more on your intuition to pick up on new ideas and the different ways in which they might fit together. Rather than having a rabbit’s foot in your possession, this approach suggests that a regular meditation practice, which helps us learn to become proficient at clearing our minds and slowing down our thought process, is more conducive to being lucky.

Another area in which lucky and unlucky people differ is in the way they think. Consider this: the degree to which you think that something is fortunate or not is the degree to which you generate alternatives that are better or worse. For example, unlucky people say I can’t believe I got into a car accident whereas lucky people might say Yes, I was in a car accident, but nobody was killed. Both ways of thinking are largely unconscious and automatic.

Research indicates that there are four principles that can help create good fortune in your life:

1. Maximize chance opportunities. Lucky people are skilled at creating, noticing and acting upon chance opportunities. They do this in various ways, including building and maintaining strong networks, adopting a relaxed attitude toward life and being open to new experiences.

2. Listen to your hunches. Lucky people make effective decisions in large part by listening and giving weight to their intuition or “gut feelings.” They take steps to actively boost their intuitive abilities, first off by giving them credence and secondarily by meditating and practicing clearing their minds. They will also tend trust in images and concepts they glean from their dreams.

3. Expect good fortune. Lucky people foster a belief that the future will be bright. Over time, that expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because it helps them persist in the face of failure and positively shapes their interactions with other people.

4. Turn bad luck into good. Lucky people cope with ill fortune by imagining how things could have been worse. This enables them to view themselves as fortunate even when really terrible events occur.

Here is a little experiment you can try at home. Get a small notebook and keep a lucky diary. Take a few moments at the end of each day to jot down whatever happy or fortunate things happened to you during the day. Do not make unhappy or unfortunate entries. You needn’t keep a running narrative, just a few words to describe each occurrence. Do this for a month, taking the opportunity occasionally to go back and review some of the things you have recorded. By the end of that month you, and more importantly, your subconscious, will have undergone an important shift in the way you view your life. If you have a child who may seem to be going through a difficult or low period, this would be an excellent way to help them improve their perspective on things. You can work together on your respective diaries. It’s a very simple but elemental exercise in choosing what events in your life to focus on. Good luck!

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Comments, questions, concerns? I’m always interested in your feedback: e-mail bill@i4hd.com with your ideas.