Create Your Luck. People & Chances

We all have different perspectives as far as the issue of luck is concerned. Some do not believe in luck at all whereas some believe that they were just not born lucky or as the cliché goes, not born with silver spoon in their mouth.

Research has proven that to a large extent, we make our own good and bad fortune. It is also evident, through a scientific study, that it is possible for people to increase the amount of luck they encounter in their lives. Truth be told, we all have a lucky tie in our closet, a lucky shirt or dress or a lucky something we do or wear to enhance our chances of being more fortunate. These may make us feel nice for a while, yes, but it is not the kind of formula that is being addressed by these scientific research.

In an article in Reader’s Digest, Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology, explains his findings on a research he did to find out why some people are consistently lucky while other are not. He placed advertisements in newspapers and magazines asking for people who considered themselves exceptionally lucky or unlucky to volunteer in the study that was to be done in ten years.  400 men and women responded, coming from all walks of life aging between 18-84 years. The research was done through interviewing the volunteers, asking them to complete diaries, personality questions, IQ tests, and through laboratory experiments. 

Results: Lucky people get lucky through some basic principles – seizing chance opportunities, creating self-fulfilling prophecies through positive expectations and adopting resilient attitude that turns bad luck around.

To find out why lucky people have chance opportunities while unlucky people don’t, he gave the lucky and unlucky people a newspaper and asked them to tell him how many photos were inside. On average, he reported, unlucky people spent about two minutes on the exercise while lucky people spent seconds. Why? The paper’s second page had a big typed message saying, “Stop counting: There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.” Lucky people spotted the message. Halfway through the paper, he’d put a second message: “Stop counting, tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.” Again, only the lucky people won.

Results: Unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too busy looking for something else. This is what I call the TB pandemic; being Too Busy to spot and seize opportunities to better our situations.

Lucky people on the other hand, see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. They relish the upside of every situation. They don’t just look for the spoon in their mouth; they walk to the kitchen, I mean that’s where spoons are kept. Or better still walk into a cutlery store. 

Don’t miss the nourishment of the things around you that can help you live a better life. Have an open mind and grab the opportunities as they present themselves. Create your luck and seize the opportunity to be at the ATB Entrepreneurs and Start-up Event on 14^th November. See you there

©Olegamba 2014.