The Psychology of Luck: How to Improve Your Luck
Luck is not an innate gift, but a skill shaped by awareness, preparation, and attitude. In this article, you will discover how to increase your luck based on scientific findings.
What is Luck?
Luck has been one of the most intriguing concepts in philosophy, theology, mathematics, and, in recent years, psychology for centuries. For some, it is purely blind chance and a cosmic lottery; for others, it is the inevitable result of preparation, awareness, and the right attitude. So, in light of modern science and practical experience, what exactly is “luck”? Is misfortune destiny, or does it express a changeable state of mind?
The historical origin of this concept describes humanity's relationship with uncertainty. However, modern psychology treats luck not only as destiny but also as a learnable attitude. Luck, in its simplest definition, is the occurrence of an unexpected result without any clear intention or cause. It is generally divided into good luck (fortune) and bad luck (misfortune). The strict scientific equivalent of luck is probability. Probability is a mathematical value given to the likelihood of a specific scenario occurring among all possible scenarios. . . ..
Bad luck (Random Events) refers to rare and unexpected occurrences that are entirely beyond an individual's control. Examples include winning the lottery or the initial conditions of life, such as place of birth, family, and genetic makeup. Like the probability of rolling a 6 on a die (1/6), these events are purely statistical. Gladwell (2008) interestingly highlights the effect of birth date on the success of hockey players. Statistical studies conducted in professional sports leagues show that a significant percentage of elite-level hockey players were born in the first quarter of the year (January-March). The main reason for this is that the age limit for youth teams is set at January 1, and children born during these months are physically a few months older than others on the same team and therefore have a developmental advantage. This initial “genetic timing advantage” can continue to provide an advantage even in the later stages of their careers. . . .1/6.
. The luck factor defines the interaction between randomness and individual action. In this context, luck is viewed not as a passive event, but rather as the ability to proactively recognize opportunities, seize them, and turn adverse situations into advantages (Wiseman, 2018). Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928 is a classic example of the “Luck Factor.” When Fleming returned from vacation, he noticed that Penicillium notatum mold in a culture dish in his messy laboratory was killing the surrounding bacteria. This simple observation was the beginning of a discovery that changed world medicine. While this coincidence could have occurred in many laboratories, Fleming's background as a biologist and his ability to question the anomaly with scientific curiosity transformed this coincidence into a discovery that changed world history. Louis Pasteur's (1854) statement sums up this situation: “Chance favors the prepared mind.” This statement clearly illustrates that luck is not a passive state of waiting, but rather requires active preparation. . . . .
The Principles of Being Lucky
Throughout human history, luck and fortune have been associated with fate, divine providence, omens, and superstitions. These beliefs arose from the need to make sense of events beyond our control and reduce uncertainty. However, it is clear that we now live in a more predictable world. In light of scientific data, we have relatively more control over life. We can now discuss luck based on more scientific data.
According to psychology professor Richard Wiseman (2003), a large part of luck is based on a set of learned skills. In experiments conducted with thousands of people, Wiseman found that lucky people apply four basic principles (Wiseman, 2003): . .
1. Maximizing Opportunities: Lucky individuals show a high level of openness to non-routine experiences and novelty. This behavioral tendency expands their social networks and thus statistically increases the likelihood of beneficial serendipitous encounters (Wiseman, 2003). In professional life, a good example of this is when a manager, who regularly participates in an ordinary volunteer activity outside their industry, happens to meet a software developer who can solve a difficult problem in their field. The manager's openness to activities outside their professional network maximized their chance of establishing a critical professional connection from an unexpected area.
2. Trusting Your Gut Feelings: Especially in situations where there is a lack of information or where quick decisions are required, lucky individuals are more inclined to make intuitive decisions. When all analyses and data give neutral signals, an experienced investor's decision to make a small investment in a particular stock based on a strong “good feeling” shows that they trust their intuition. The success of this decision is often interpreted as a quick and subconscious synthesis of past experiences in situations where external data is insufficient.
3. Creating Positive Expectations for the Future: An individual's positive expectations about the future make them more determined and motivated. This situation increases the likelihood of success through the “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” mechanism in social psychology. A team leader who starts a new project with a strong belief that they will succeed boosts their team's motivation and effort with this positive attitude. This self-confidence makes them more determined in the face of difficulties, objectively increasing the project's chances of success.. .
4. Turning Bad Luck into an Advantage: Lucky individuals tend to cognitively reframe negative events. This flexibility allows them to view setbacks not as disasters, but as protection from greater harm or long-term learning opportunities. This approach increases psychological resilience (Wiseman & Watt, 2004). For example, an entrepreneur traveling for an important business presentation who misses the presentation due to a traffic accident (misfortune) can turn things around by sending an apology email to the CEO of the company where the presentation was to be held. Instead of perceiving the situation as a catastrophe, the email explains the delay due to the accident but also highlights a different approach to the current problem. This unexpected honest communication caught the CEO's attention, creating an opportunity to deliver the presentation later in a private meeting. This cognitive flexibility turned the initial misfortune into a communication advantage. . . . .
The Cognitive Mechanisms Behind Luck
Our perception of luck is largely related to our belief structure. According to Rotter's (1966) “locus of control” theory, individuals' perceptions of control over events differ. Accordingly, luck and bad luck can be closely linked to individuals' locus of control beliefs. Individuals with a high external locus of control believe that events in their lives are controlled by external forces (fate, environment, luck) (Rotter, 1966). This belief leads to passivity and ignoring opportunities. Individuals with a high internal locus of control, on the other hand, believe that their success and failure are largely the result of their own efforts, competencies, and choices (Rotter, 1966). This belief encourages proactive behavior and a tendency to seek opportunities. . ... . ., . . .
Labeling oneself as “unlucky” creates a cognitive distortion that leads to remembering only unlucky events and ignoring “lucky” moments. Unluckiness is a learned selective attention mechanism that causes individuals to remember only negative events. For lucky people, this mechanism works in the opposite direction. . . . .
Albert Bandura's (1977) Self-Efficacy theory defines an individual's belief that they can successfully perform a specific task. Individuals with high self-efficacy are more effective at taking advantage of unexpected opportunities (luck) because they believe they have the competence to make these opportunities happen. If you are prepared and confident, when an unexpected opportunity knocks on your door, you perceive it not just as an opportunity, but as a chance ready to be seized. . . . . . .
According to Carol Dweck's (2006) concept of Growth Mindset, believing that one's abilities and intelligence can be developed enables individuals to view failures (bad luck) not as a fixed deficiency but as an opportunity for growth and learning. This cognitive flexibility increases the individual's adaptation to obstacles and, consequently, their long-term success. The most successful people focus on the solution rather than the event itself when their plans do not go as intended (bad luck). Thanks to this flexible mindset, they gain the ability to see obstacles as opportunities for learning and development. . .
Luck is not merely a spiritual or random event. A large part of luck is the result of learned cognitive and behavioral strategies. It is important to act according to four basic principles to increase the Luck Factor. These are: proactive action, openness to new experiences, positive expectations, and developing a flexible mindset. Instead of waiting for coincidences to come our way, we can all gain control over our own luck by reaching a level of preparedness that allows us to evaluate these coincidences. In this sense, being lucky does not mean relying on coincidences in life, but rather building a door for those coincidences to knock on. A classic example is that the biggest reason you win the lottery is that you bought that lottery ticket in the first place. . . . .
Source
- Bandura, A. (1977) Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.
- Dweck, C. S. (2006) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House. [Kendini Geliştirmenin Gücü: Başarı Psikolojisi. Pegasus Yayınları, 2018.]
- Gladwell, M. (2008) Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown and Company. [Çizginin Dışındakiler – Başarının Hikayesi. MediaCat Yayınları, 2009.]
- Pasteur, L. (1854) Discours prononcé à la séance solennelle de rentrée de la Faculté des Sciences de Lille.
- Rotter, J. B. (1966) Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80(1), 1–28.
- Taleb, N. N. (2007) The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. Random House. [Siyah Kuğu: Olasılıksız Görünenin Etkisi. Varlık Yayınları, 2008.]
- Wiseman, R. (2003) The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind. Arrow Books. [Şans Faktörü – Şanslı Zihnin Bilimsel İncelemesi. Pegasus Yayınları, 2019.]
- Wiseman, R. & Watt, C. (2004) The role of cognitive and affective processes in the perception of luck. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(4), 597–605.
