How To Be Lucky

I can categorically state that there is no such thing as luck- science has proved it.

I’ve always thought luck was really just about being in the right place at the right time. But there is a reason  why certain people are in right place at the right time. And if you are unlucky, you can change it. It’s as easy as opening your eyes.

Take a lottery winner, they are not lucky, per se, they just bought a ticket and when the balls came down with the number they chose the odds were in their favour. Luck is much more about opportunity – the lottery winner bought an opportunity. That is all.

Heres how to be lucky.

Luck is a state of mind not a state of being

Psychologist Richard Wiseman conducted a study on luck. He surveyed two groups of people. Group one were the people who considered themselves to be lucky, whilst group two consisted of people who found themselves to be unlucky.

Both groups were given a newspaper and were asked to find out how many photographs the newspaper contained. The findings showed that those who were in the unlucky group took, on average, two minutes to count the photographs. But those in the lucky group took just a few seconds, on average, to count the photographs.

Ok, so lucky people have an amazing ability to be able to count photographs, right?

No, it’s much simpler than that. The people who were super-fast at counting the photos, the so called lucky group, found a message on page two that read, ‘stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.’
The unlucky group, of course, missed this message because their main focus was counting photographs.

So what does this tell us about Luck?

Luck has nothing to do with being lucky. But it is about being in the right place at the right time. Why? Because if you keep yourself open to opportunity, you’ll have a greater chance of being in the right place at the right time – do you get me? Because the ‘lucky’ group were more open and observant, they found the message.

Secrets of the lucky

According to Wiseman, “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 the newspaper determined to find certain 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 just what they are looking for.”

Wiseman carried out a second test – which involved participants looking at a computer screen. They were told to focus on a large dot in the centre. Then, without warning, a number of other large dots appeared on the edges along the screen. Most participants saw the extra dots.

Another test was carried out where the subjects were told they would receive money if they looked at the centre dot accurately. Nearly all missed the extra. According to Wiseman, ‘The harder they looked, the less they saw.’

So, focusing on just one specific thing makes you blind to what is out there. If you look for specific jobs in specific places you could miss the opportunity of a lifetime. Same goes with relationships – if you have a specific ‘type’ you’ll probably miss out on meeting or having a relationship with someone really special.

Get out there, keep yourself open to opportunity and be lucky in London.