Recently, I stumbled upon the research findings of a psychologist on ‘why some people are always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experience ill fortune.’ He conducted a simple experiment. He gave same number of both lucky and unlucky people copies of the same newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell him how many photographs were inside. He had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying, “Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.” This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.
He concluded that unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected. As a result, they miss 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 newspapers determined to find certain types of job adverts and 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. His research finally revealed the elusive “Luck Factor” based on the following four steps:
1. Listen to your gut instincts – they are normally right.
2. Be open to new experiences breaking your normal routine.
3. Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well.
4. Visualize yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call.
Luck, indeed, is an intersection of opportunity and preparedness.
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