St. Patrick’s Day is known to be a day of luck or bad luck. Most people use their common good luck symbols, like wearing green, carrying around lucky charms like a shoe horse or star, and looking for a four-leaf clover. But Dr. Richard Wiseman, head of a psychology research department at the University of Hertfordshire in England, has studied the art of luck and the science behind it to increase people’s chances of getting lucky without the use of silly looking doohickeys.
“Unlucky people are stuck in routines. When they see something new, they want no part of it. Lucky people always want something new. They’re prepared to take risks and relaxed enough to see the opportunities in the first place,” said Wiseman.
So, if you want to get any type of luck, don’t rely on charms and superstitions. Use science instead. Wiseman conducted a few experiments to prove the difference between lucky people and unlucky people.
One experiment that stood out the most is one he highlighted in book, The Luck Factor: Changing Your Luck, Changing Your Life: The Four Essential Principles. He gave a large group of people a newspaper and told them to count how many pictures were in it. Lucky people took seconds to figure out the answer because there was a message on the second page telling the reader that there were 43 pictures in the newspaper. Whereas unlucky people didn’t even catch that message because they were too busy trying to just count the pictures. This experiment stresses on Wiseman’s first principle, which is to keep an open mind.
You may have found yourself talking to the same type of cute, jock-looking guy at parties and noticed you might have not gotten so lucky. But add a variety to your life, as Wiseman suggests. Maybe next time instead of approaching the same type of guy, approach any guy that is wearing a certain color. This eliminates the chances of you approaching the same type of guy, but you also keep your options limited and not too overwhelming.
So the next time you see yourself at a party and you’re feeling not so lucky, keep Wiseman’s scientific get-lucky strategies in mind. If you keep an open mind, you keep your opportunities open. The more opportunities you have open; you’ll have more chances for something lucky to come about.
Step out of your comfort zone and your routine. Take risks and be confident about it. You never know, you might actually get lucky.