I've started reading Richard Wiseman's book "The Luck Factor" (http://www.luckfactor.co.uk/) and was thinking of setting up a "Luck Network" as part of my website www.SpurIntoAction.co.uk. What do think? Is it possible to learn to improve your luck and could you be persuaded to meet up on a regular basis to share your experiences with others?

Professor Wiseman has indentified four principles to "revolutionise every area of your life - including your relationships, personal finances and career"

"It's a probability game. If you meet twenty people in a week, chances are you're gonna meet someone who's interesting. So part of it's just improving your odds of experiencing nice events, nice encounters, by being out there. I think it's pretty hard to be lucky if you weren't"

There was a radio 4 program on this last year "The loser's guide to getting lucky" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3335275.stm and there's more on the same at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2622567.stm

... and if you like it American Style try http://www.wealthhere.com/brian/luck.htm

There's the old story of the Golf Pro. (was it Arnold Palmer??) who was told by a journalist that he'd holed a lucky shot. The Golfer looked at the journo and replied that 'Possibly, but I've found the more I practice the luckier I get'.

I think there is something to improving your luck by preparation and attitude.

If you have a downer on yourself, then I think it makes it harder to take advantage of lucky breaks.

I'm not sure if you can create luck from nothing by positive thinking, but you can be like the US Civil War General who was, it's reported, able to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory by simply being down on yourself.

Joe

Originally posted by JoePritchard
There's the old story of the Golf Pro. (was it Arnold Palmer??) who was told by a journalist that he'd holed a lucky shot. The Golfer looked at the journo and replied that 'Possibly, but I've found the more I practice the luckier I get'.


That is a fab quote and holds very true!

I had a near head on car smash at 50mph a few years ago and my car was written off. I tell people I was lucky because I escaped without a bruise or a scratch.

The other driver had a slight scratch on her forehead and a crying child in a child seat. She was crying too, thinking how lucky she'd been - she'd just dropped off 2 other children at school who hadn't been in child seats or wearing seatbelts. If the accident had been when the other kids were in the car the outcome may not have been so fortunate. I bet she improved her chances of "luck" after that by getting all the kids secure in the car at all times ...

Another view from http://www.pioneerthinking.com/cw_badhabits.html -

"If you work hard, buy a new car, keep it up with regular maintenance and blow a tire driving down the road, that is bad luck.

However, if you drive on your tires until they are almost bald and drive at speeds higher than they are recommended for, and keep them at the wrong inflation level, and then the tire blows, that is not bad luck but bad choices. The tire blew because you chose not to buy new ones. The tire blew because you chose not to take the time to check your tire inflation level the last time you filled up the tank."


and

... The next time you hear someone say, “He’s down on his luck,” perhaps you ought to ask, “Or is he down on his choices?”

"I have found that those who have good habits and make good choices tend to experience the best luck!"

Originally posted by JoePritchard
There's the old story of the Golf Pro. (was it Arnold Palmer??) who was told by a journalist that he'd holed a lucky shot. The Golfer looked at the journo and replied that 'Possibly, but I've found the more I practice the luckier I get'.


Hi Joe,

yes it was Arnold Plamer - he also said "I've always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying; I never felt that I didn't have a chance to win."
http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/arnold_palmer/
Ken

the golfer of course was being sarcastic. He didn't get luckier, he got better at placing his shot.

Luck is something we use to describe external events that affect us that we can have no control (and maybe no knowledge) of prior to them happening.

It's bad luck if you're minding your own business and you're struck by lighting. Unless you chose to go and stand on a hill in a thunderstorm of course, then it's bad judgement.
And conversely it's good luck if you win the lottery. No amount of positive thinking will alter the random chance of you winning (although choosing to buy a lottery ticket will).

Luck is purely a sequence of random factors in one's favour.

Originally posted by Bloomdido
Luck is purely a sequence of random factors in one's favour. Luck is something you have no control about one day you could have the best job the best house and the best wife then some thing out of your control happens and you lose everything is that good luck or bad luck. :confused: Fate is distined to happen and I think theres nothing you can do to change it.:(

surely a belief in fate and in luck are not compatible?

either things are luck (blind chance caused by an uncaring universe) or they are fate, predestined, planned by someone/something that removes any responsability or culpability for our own actions as we are just actors to a script written long ago.

Personally I believe that we have control over ourselves and most aspects of our own life. The world will impinge on us and random chance will force situations upon us, we simply have to make the best choices we can each time and that's life.

You're right Cyclone about the lottery "you have to be in it to win it". I guess it's all about "maximising your chance opportunities".

There is a certain amount you must do in order for the luck to take place. If you buy a lottery ticket, you have a chance of winning, if you practice golf, your luck will be on top of your skill.

Quite often it's easy to see the luck and not the skill and hard work. We try harder if we think we have a chance. If you are a negative thinker you don't see possibilities and don't place yourself in a situation where luck might happen.

You can be overly optimistic about your luck too though. I saw a woman recently who won on a lottery scratchcard. She immediately bought more cards and won again. She cursed her good luck as she was about to catch a bus, but was compelled to buy another ticket. This time she lost. I don't know whether she caught her bus.

I think we shouldn't depend on luck, but we shouldn't ignore it either. Do what we can to allow the luck to happen and don't be disheartened by bad breaks. If you can see yourself as lucky, if you look on the bright side, then you are more likely to mix with similar people who work at being lucky and stand a chance of luck happening.

it is luck if you win the lottery though.
rationally the chances of you winning are so small that you would be better off (% wise) not buying a ticket or a scratchcard. If you insist on gambling for the chance of winning, then you'd be better of choosing a game where practice might improve your odds, something at a casino say.

I'm far too rational to buy a lottery ticket i'm afraid, so although i'll never hit the jackpot, i've saved several hundred pounds since the lottery was launched. 10 years of nat lot actually, so 500 quid i've saved!

Winning the lottery is pure chance and if you take part you should limit the amount you risk in order to gain. The lottery is the worst bet going (something like 1 in 14,000,000). I did the figures once - if you would like to scoop the jackpot in the next 30 years you'd have to pay something like £10,000 per week. I'm in the office syndicate and we each pay £1 per week. I don't have the nerve NOT to be in the office syndicate. A friend of mine didn't join his office football pools syndicate and they had a decent win - a few thousand quid each - not life changing but very nice to have.

Richard Wiseman's book is more about the things you can do in your life to improve your chances of being "lucky". A lot of "lucky breaks" are not accidental - people work for them and put themselves in favourable positions where they can make the business contact or the life partner who shares their interests and ideals.

"Lucky" people are switched on to new opportunities. If you think nothing good ever happens to you, then you'll probably be right - nobody likes proving themselves to be wrong do they?

so it's rather misleading to call it luck then, isn't it?

Originally posted by Cyclone
so it's rather misleading to call it luck then, isn't it?
When you start taking it apart, it does raise problems.


"Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention luck are kidding themselves"
~Larry King~ taken from one of the BBC links above

Originally posted by Cyclone
so it's rather misleading to call it luck then, isn't it?

I think you need to be aware what part of success is earned and what part is down to luck. There will always be an element of luck when a golfer gets a hole in one. Subtle changes in wind, the cut of the green, tiny variations in the weight and bounce of the ball can't really be calculated to make it certain of putting the ball in the hole. But there's no doubt that practice will improve your chances nor that a complete beginner could get the hole in one before the pro. And as well as practice, the belief that you could do it counts for a lot.