How to be Luckier in Life – A Definitive Guide to Improving Your Luck

I used to be very unlucky. I was the person who’d buy a new coffee mug only to drop it and watch it shatter on the unyielding kitchen tile a few days later.

I never won any contests. I always missed opportunities. I was never the person who knew someone who knew someone who gave them a big break in life.

I felt pretty gosh darn unlucky in just about everything I did. Then one day about two years ago something amazing happened. My luck suddenly changed. You’ll never guess how that happened.

I decided that I was lucky.

That’s it. That’s all it took. I won four contests in one month. I suddenly felt like I wasn’t missing out on opportunities. Everything shifted as if by magic.

In reality, it wasn’t magic at all. Whether or not you believe in luck the science behind the difference between lucky and unlucky people is fascinating.

I recently read The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman. If you haven’t read the book check it out. In his research he found that lucky people all have a certain attitude and outlook to life. Unlucky people also all have commonalities.

I don’t really believe in good luck or bad luck anymore, but I do realize that the attitude you take toward the events in your life determine how you’ll feel about them. If you are interested in being luckier in life here is a breakdown of what Wiseman found.

What do lucky people do differently than unlucky people?

They build and maintain a strong network of luck. People who consider themselves lucky have no problem talking to people. They interact with strangers in public places. They keep in touch with old friends. It’s logical to assume that meeting a lot of people increases your chances of meeting someone who can connect you to an opportunity.

I’m not saying that you should be wondering what every person you meet can do for you. That’s a terrible way to think of people. I’m just saying that you should be open to conversations.

Honestly, I used to be quite closed off to other people. I was shy and had a difficult time knowing what to say to most any body. Then I decided to make a few changes in my life that made interacting with others a lot easier.

I make sure I have open body language most of the time. That means standing up straight, not crossing your arms in front of you, and smiling at people.

I also stopped worrying about what I was going to say. People tend to approach me. If they aren’t creepy I talk to them, but I find that it’s less about what you have to say and more about listening.

My husband has been practicing this too and we’ve been meeting the most interesting people. Just yesterday we met a man in a coffee shop who asked us for relationship advice. I love a good story and listening to his was fascinating.

Being more open to others can really change your outlook on life.

Develop a relaxed attitude toward life. I used to be super anxious. Sometimes I fall back into that. I was also worried and I needed everything to be on a set timeline. I was easily flustered and generally just wound pretty tightly.

This attitude actually makes you miss a lot of what is going on around you. Wiseman found that people who were more relaxed about life were more likely to notice opportunities. (Meditation really helped me relax.)

Be open to new experiences. Just trying new things can bring about amazing experiences in life. Remember when I told you that I suddenly became lucky and won four contests. The reason that happened is because I suddenly decided to enter a bunch of contests. Before that I’d always think that I’m unlucky so why bother even entering.

Once I decided to be lucky I started entering every contest I happened upon. It’s all about probability. Of course you’re never going to win a contest if you never enter.

Listen to your gut. Wiseman found that unlucky people often doubted their gut instincts and would forge ahead with major life decisions even if they didn’t feel right. While lucky people would recognize that feeling and take it as a hint to proceed with caution or not to proceed at all.

Take steps to boost your intuition. Most of the lucky people Wiseman spoke with did things like meditation, clearing their minds, or taking some time to sit and reflect.

Expect good luck in the future. Do you anticipate everything going wrong? I used to have a tendency to proceed as if I was going to fail. The funny thing is that proceeding as if you will fail makes it almost certain that you will.

Now when I move forward I make sure I put my best into every project as if it will succeed.

Attempt to achieve your goals and persevere in the face of failure. Unlucky people often have a defeated attitude. Do you ever find yourself wondering why bother trying because it won’t work out anyway? If you do …

STOP IT.

Your dreams won’t come true if you never even try to achieve them. That’s pretty obvious, right? Just like you’ll never win a contest you don’t enter.

Lucky people were also much less likely to give up if their first attempt didn’t work. Persisting in the face of failure is something that successful entrepreneurs have in common. If you want something badly enough you’ll figure out another way to get it. If that doesn’t work you’ll find another way, and so on until you find something that does work.

Expect interactions with others to be lucky and successful. I found out something pretty shocking when I decided to be more open to interactions with people in public. Most people are all right.

I used to assume the worst of humanity. I’m not sure why I did. Maybe I watched the news too much, but talking to random people helped restore my faith in humanity.

Here’s a quick tip that I use to stay safe, because I’m sure there are some women reading this who are thinking that going around talking to strangers might be dangerous. I trust my gut heavily in these situations. If anyone ever makes me feel ill at ease or uncomfortable in the slightest. I shut them down quickly and distance myself from them. You have to be safe.

Look on the positive side of bad luck. If something unfortunate happens to you, figure out how you can learn from it. Wiseman found that lucky people tended to naturally think of something even worse that could’ve happen and be thankful that it didn’t.

Lucky people also didn’t dwell on the bad luck of the past and took valuable lessons from their past negative experiences. Then they took constructive steps to make sure that bad experience wouldn’t happen to them again in the future.

That’s it. Now you know the secret to having a lucky life. I hope you use these ideas to bring good fortune your way. If you are interested in reading more about the psychology of luck check out the book, Luck Factor. It’s a great read.