Book Review of “The Luck Factor” by Richard Wiseman

Have you wondered why some people just seem to get all the breaks in life? You hear these stories all the time, like the one about the man and woman who accidentally meet on a plane ride, strike up a conversation with each other, and fall in love and then end up happily married till the very end or how a chance meeting between two guys at some random party turns into a successful business partnership. Some of the world’s most successful models were discovered standing in line waiting to get ice cream. It just seems like some people, when it comes to careers, relationships and just about everything, are a magnet for good fortune. There are even some people out there who are multiple lottery winners. Unfortunately, on the other end of the spectrum, there are those unfortunates for whom nothing seems to go right. Divorce, debt, poverty and failed careers reign supreme in their lives. It’s always one disaster after another. Sure intelligence and looks are obviously factors that come into play. But there are lots of smart and good-looking people in the world. Furthermore, I think it’s quite obvious that the world’s most successful people are not necessarily the most intelligent or physically attractive. Sometimes it seems to be the exact opposite. There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind why some people come into good fortune. Why oh why are some people just so damn lucky?! Well, author and psychologist Richard Wiseman set out to answer that question, scientifically. After objectively examining scores of so-called lucky and unlucky people, he claims to have identified four discrete principles that have been scientifically proven to attract good fortune. So enjoy these excerpts from his international best-seller that reveal The Luck Factor (ISBN: 9780099443247). Oh, and good luck to you!

“Luck exerts a dramatic influence over our lives. A few seconds of bad fortune can unravel years of striving, whilst a moment of good luck can lead to success and happiness. Luck has the power to transform the improbable into the possible; to make the difference between life and death, reward and ruin, happiness and despair.” Pg. 11

“Luck could not simply be the outcome of chance events. There were too many people consistently experiencing good and bad luck for it all to be chance. Instead, there must be something causing things to work out consistently well for some people and consistently badly for others. Given the importance of luck, it seemed vital to try to understand why this was the case. Were these people really destined to succeed or fated to fail? Were they part of some huge, cosmic game plan? Were they using some form of psychic ability to create good and bad luck? Or could it all be explained in terms of differences in their beliefs and behavior? Most important of all, if we understood more about what was happening, would it be possible to enhance people’s luck?” pg. 20

Principle One: Maximize Your Chance Opportunities
Lucky people create, notice and act upon the chance opportunities in their life.

Sub-Principle One: Lucky people build and maintain a strong ‘network of luck’

“Joseph, a 35-year old mature student, has also encountered life-changing chance opportunities in his life. When he was young he found it very difficult to settle down in school, and was in constant trouble with the police. By his late twenties he had drifted in and out of prison for several minor offenses, and from one job to another. Then a chance encounter changed his life. He was travelling on a train when it got stuck between two stations. Joseph became bored and struck up a conversation with the woman sitting next to him. She was a psychologist and the two of them started to talk about Joseph’s life, and he began to confess to some of his self-destructive tendencies. The woman was impressed with his insight and social skills, and suggested that he would make an excellent psychologist. As the train pulled into the station the two of them parted company, but the women’s idea stuck in Joseph’s mind. He looked into the type of training and qualifications he would need to become a psychologist. He eventually made the decision to change his entire lifestyle and go to college. He is currently studying psychology at university and will graduate next year. Joseph told me ‘I’ve learned that if you initiate conversation with people you can get a lot out of it-to me, it improves my luck immensely.’ Pg. 43

“The differences between the lucky and unlucky people were dramatic. The lucky people smiled twice as much as unlucky people and engaged in far more eye contact.” Pg.44

“Lucky people are effective at building secure, and long lasting attachments with the people that they meet. They are easy to get to know and most people like them. They tend to be trusting and form close relationships with others. As a result, they often keep in touch with a much larger number of friends and colleagues than unlucky people, and time and time again, this network of friends helps promote opportunity in their lives.” Pg. 45
Sub-principle Two: Lucky people have a relaxed attitude towards life

“Lucky people’s ability to notice opportunities is a result of their relaxed way of looking at the world. It is not that they expect to find certain opportunities, but rather that they notice them when they come across them.” Pg. 53

“But being relaxed does not just help lucky people notice money in the street, or spot helpful items in newspapers, magazines and on the radio. Exactly the same principle applies when they meet and chat with other people. They do not go to parties and meetings trying hard to find their dream partners or someone will offer them their perfect job. Instead, they are simply relaxed and therefore more attuned to the opportunities around them.” Pg. 54

Sub-Principle Three: Lucky people are open to new experiences in their lives

“When it comes to holidays, we never book up, we just fly on the spur of the moment and get a hotel when we get there.” Pg. 58

“If you told me to go to the same store every single week and pick up the same thirty items, exactly the same, that would drive me mad. I have to go to one store one week, another the next week and a third the week after that.” Pg. 58

“Many of my lucky participants went to considerable lengths to introduce variety and change into their lives.” Pg. 58

“Imagine living in the center of a large apple orchard. Each day you have to venture out into the orchard and collect a large basket of apples. The first few times it won’t matter where you decide to visit. All parts of the orchard will have apples and so you will be able to find them wherever you go. But as time goes on it will become more and more difficult to find apples in the places that you have visited before. And the more you return to the same locations, the harder it will be to find apples there. But if you decide to go always to parts of the orchard that you have never visited before, or even randomly decide where to go, your chances of finding apples will be massively increased.” Pg. 59

Principle Two: Listen to Your Lucky Hunches
Lucky people make successful decisions by using their intuition and gut feelings


“When I asked lucky and unlucky people what was behind their successful and unsuccessful decisions they had very little idea how to explain their consistent good and bad luck. Lucky people simply knew when a decision was right. In contrast, unlucky people viewed many of their poor decisions as yet more evidence of how they were always destined to fail. I undertook research to discover why lucky people’s decisions led to so much success and happiness that those of unlucky people. The results were to show the remarkable abilities of our subconscious minds.” Pg. 71

Sub-Principle 1: Lucky people listen to their gut feelings and hunches.
“Lucky people’s intuition, gut feelings and hunches can play a massively important role in their lives. In fact, sometimes they may have made the difference between life and death.” Pg. 81

“A few years ago I was asked to speak at a business conference being held by a large bank. The timing of the talk meant that I had to stay overnight in the hotel attached to the conference center. When I booked in, the clerk behind the desk asked to take an imprint of my credit card to pay for the room. I have been in this situation hundreds of times before and usually hand over my card without really thinking about it, but this time I suddenly felt uneasy about the situation. I had no idea why I felt so uncomfortable, but I was simply reluctant about handing over the card. In fact, the intensity of the feeling was such that I took the very unusual step of paying for the room using a check. The following day I gave my talk and returned home. It turns out that the employee at the conference hotel had recently been arrested for his part in a large-scale credit card fraud.” Pg. 85

Sub-Principle 2: Lucky people take steps to boost their intuition.

Lucky people use the following techniques to boost their intuition:
1) Meditation
2) Return to the problem later
3) Clearing the mind
4) Finding a quiet place
Principle Three: Expect Good Fortune
Lucky people’s expectations about the future help them fulfill dreams and ambitions

“My research revealed that lucky people do not achieve their dreams and ambitions purely by chance. Nor does fate conspire to prevent unlucky people from obtaining what they want. Instead, lucky and unlucky people achieve, or fail to achieve, their ambitions because of a fundamental difference in how they think about both themselves and their lives.” Pg. 98

Sub-Principle 1: Lucky people expect their good luck to continue in the future

“I always go into things believing they’ll work out well. I am convinced that everything will be great. I’ve certainly come unstuck, but even then, good things come out of the bad and I always come out smiling. Some people don’t realize their luck when it is there. They look out the window and say ‘Oh dear, it is raining today,’ but I see the rain and think ‘Great, my flowers will be out tomorrow.’” Pg. 106

“Lucky and unlucky people have amazingly different expectations about the future. These expectations play an absolutely vital role in explaining why one group obtains their dreams with uncanny ease, whilst the other group rarely get what they want from life.” Pg. 107

“Lucky people are convinced that unpredictable and uncontrollable events will consistently work out for them. Unlucky people are the opposite: events within and outside their control will always work against them.” Pg. 107

“Unlucky people are convinced that any good luck that does happen to them will soon fade away, and that their future will continue to be bleak and miserable. Lucky people dismiss any unlucky events in their lives as short lived and transitory. In doing so, they are able to maintain their expectations of a bright and happy future.” Pg. 108

“What impact do these unusual and extreme expectations have on people’s lives? Our expectations have a powerful effect on the way in which we think, feel and act. They can influence our health, how we behave towards others and how others behave towards others. My research revealed that the special kind of expectations held by lucky and unlucky people had a huge impact on their lives.” Pg. 108

“Imagine that you are feeling a bit down because you have just moved to a new neighborhood and are finding it difficult to meet people. Just for fun, you decide to go along to the local fortune teller to find out what the future holds for you. The fortune teller takes your money, gazes into her crystal ball, smiles and says that the future looks bright. She says that within a few months you will be surrounded by many close and loyal friends. You are reassured by the fortune teller’s comments and walk away feeling happier than when you arrived. Because you now feel happy and confident about the future, you smile more, go out more and chat to more people. In short, you start to behave in a way that greatly increases your chances of making friends. After a few weeks you find that you are indeed surrounded by a close circle of friends and frequently recommend the fortune teller to others. In fact, it is quite possible that the fortune teller did not actually see into the future but instead actually helped to create it. Her comments affected your expectations about your social life and this, in turn, caused you to behave in a way that increased the chances of these expectations becoming a reality. Your expectations became a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Pg. 109

“Self-fulfilling prophecies so not just affect children’s levels of attainment at school. They affect our health, how we behave in the workplace, how we behave with others and how others respond to us.” Pg. 110

Sub-Principle 2: Lucky people attempt to achieve their goals, even if their chances of success seem slim, and persevere in the face of failure

“I just know that in the end everything will be okay. I know that I will win the lottery. I may not win $10 million, but I know I will get something significant. But you do have to try. If you don’t buy a ticket then you are not going to win. It’s the same in other aspects of your life. If you expect to be lucky, you will be lucky. It’s a state of mind. My mother and father were a great influence on me-I grew up to believe that you can do whatever you want if you believe in yourself enough and are positive.” Pg. 117

“Marvin’s persistence has certainly paid off. Despite his failing his woodwork exams at school, he applied for a job as a carpenter in a large shipyard. Marvin went along to the interview full of energy and hope. The interviewer was won over by his enthusiasm and offered him the job. Later on in his life he decided that he wanted to work as a private detective. Despite having no formal training or experience, he wrote to all the private detective agencies in the area, but didn’t even get one reply. Instead of giving up, Marvin put on his best suit, and went to visit the offices of one of the largest agencies in the region. The head of the company just happened to be standing in the foyer when Marvin walked in, and the two of them started chatting. The man liked Marvin and offered him a job with the company. A few hours later, Marvin walked away with headed stationary, business cards and his dream job.” Pg. 117

“Lucky people expected things to work out well and so were much more likely to attempt to achieve their goals, well and so were much more likely to attempt to achieve their goals, even if the chances of success were slim, and were far more likely to persevere. These differences actually caused many of the apparently lucky and unlucky events in their lives. They could make the difference between whether they won or lost competitions, passed or failed important examinations and succeeded or failed to find loving partners.” Pg. 119

Sub-Principle 3: Lucky people expect their interactions with others to be lucky and successful

“Lucky people expect to meet people who are interesting, happy, and fun to be with.” Pg. 120

“If I want something, I dream it through. I used to do that in business when I was doing competitions in sales. I would dream that I was winning them and receiving the prizes. I’d find myself in bed at night dream wishing. It could be six months ahead to the final outcome; I would still dream it through. I plan telephone calls even before I pick up the receiver. I sit down and I even focus on the person I will be speaking to being positive towards me. Whether I know the person or not, I’m still thinking and trying to imagine him or her saying the right things to me. At a lot of training courses I mentioned dream wishing and people laughed and probably thought I was mad! But when I tried it, all of a sudden sales figures started increasing, so I just kept doing it. I’ve had many good reactions, and been so successful, that I am certain there is something to it.” Pg. 123

“It’s odd. Things have always worked out for me. It’s wonderful because I know that, anywhere I go, I can always get a job and a place to live, because it always just happens for me like that. It’s given me an amazing amount of confidence and ability to travel. Anywhere I go into I’ll be able to get a job. Every job I’ve ever had, from the first one when I was sixteen, I’ve just walked in and been hired immediately.” Pg. 124

“Lucky people have very positive expectations about the future. They expect to be lucky in all areas of their life, and in situations that are both within and outside their control. These expectations have a major impact on lucky people’s lives-they have the power to become self-fulfilling prophecies and make dreams come true.” Pg. 128

“During my research, lucky people often spoke about how they visualize themselves experiencing good fortune.” Pg. 132
Principle Four: Turn Your Bad Luck into Good
Lucky people are able to transform their bad luck into good fortune

“In Japan, there is a common good luck charm called a Daruma Doll. It is named after a Buddhist monk, who according to legend, sat so long in meditation that his arms and legs disappeared. The Daruma Doll is egg shaped with a heavy, rounded bottom. When you knock it over it always stands back up. Lucky people are similar to the Daruma Doll. It is not that they never encounter ill fortune, but rather, when bad luck happens, lucky people are able to stand straight back up. The secret of lucky people’s ability to turn bad luck into good lies in four techniques. Together, these form an almost invincible shield that guards lucky people against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” Pg.134

Sub-Principle 1: Lucky people see the positive side of their bad luck.

“The different way in which lucky people and unlucky people looked at the ill fortune in their lives emerged in many of their interviews. Agnes, an artist from Scotland, has a very happy family life and has been lucky throughout her career. Agnes has come face to face with death on several occasions throughout her life. Amazingly, Agnes hasn’t let this lifetime of deadly accidents and injuries get her down. Instead, her spontaneous ability to imagine how each of the situations could have been much worse has helped keep her spirits high and see herself as a lucky person.” Pg. 140

“Lucky people tend to lessen the impact of their ill fortune by comparing themselves to people who have been unluckier than themselves.” Pg. 142

Sub-Principle 2: Lucky people are convinced that any ill-fortune in their life will, in the long run, work out for the best

“There is an ancient parable about a wise farmer who realized that many of the seemingly unlucky events in our lives often have an uncanny way of turning out to be lucky in the long run. One day, the farmer was out riding when his horse suddenly threw him to the ground. The farmer landed badly and broke his leg. A few days later his neighbor came to commiserate with him on his bad luck, but the farmer replied ‘How do you know that this is bad luck?” A week later, people in the village were due to hold a special festival, but the farmer was unable to attend the celebrations because of his broken leg. Once again, his neighbor expressed some sympathy for his misfortune and said, once again, the farmer replied ‘How do you know that this is bad luck?’ There was a terrible fire at the festival and many people died. The neighbor realized that the farmer’s run of apparent ill fortune had helped save his life, and that the farmer had been right to question whether these events had been unlucky.” Pg. 143

Sub-Principle 3: Lucky people do not dwell on their ill fortune

“Unlucky people tend to dwell on the bad luck in their lives. As one unlucky person put it: ‘It’s almost as though I have had a curse put on me. There have been times when I don’t know where to turn. I have lost a lot of sleep worrying about everything that has gone wrong, even though I can’t do anything about it. I wonder what I have done that is so bad to deserve this.” Lucky people do the opposite. They let go of the past and focus on the future.” Pg. 145

“I think meditation helps me to get a better perspective on life. You can switch off, calm down and when you wake up de-stressed, you take a different view on things. It makes you realize that if you can’t change a situation then there’s no point in getting stressed. If you can take some action and do something about it, then do it; but if there’s nothing you can do-like if you’re sitting in traffic on the motorway-then you might as well forget about it and calm down.” Pg. 145-146

“I used to go to Buddhist meditation and that was really helpful. I learnt to just let things go if something wasn’t right or was bothering me. You just have to put it behind you as an experience that hasn’t been good and then try not to worry about it. I find that very easy to do; I don’t dwell on stuff.” Pg. 146

“I very rarely worry about the past. Instead, I look for the treasure in the mountain of trash and very rarely get bogged down into the negative aspects of things. I normally focus on what’s good about this situation and how I can benefit from it.” Pg. 147

“Research has shown that when people dwell on the negative events in their lives they start to feel sad. When people concentrate on positive events from their past, they feel much happier.” Pg. 147

“When facing problems, lucky people tend to describe how they would persevere rather than give up, how they would treat these kinds of experiences as opportunities to learn from past mistakes, and how they would explore novel and more constructive ways of solving the problem, such as consulting experts and engaging in lateral thinking.” Pg. 148

Sub-Principle 4: Lucky people take constructive steps to prevent more bad luck in the future

“After imagining going on three failed dates, one lucky person explained how they would persevere: ‘I’d try, try, and try again. Don’t be deterred, go for it. You can’t just give up that easy. Life’s set these little tasks for you and you’ve just got to see them through.” Pg. 150

After imagining going on three failed job interviews, another wrote: ‘I’d just shrug my shoulders and carry on. I think probably the same day I’d write off to more places, so I felt that I was doing something positive.” Pg. 150

“So, lucky people persist, and have more constructive responses, in the face of failure.” Pg. 151

Take these five steps to solve a difficult problem:

One: First, don’t assume that there is nothing you can do about the situation. Make a decision to take control and not be a victim of bad luck.

Two: Do something now-not next week and not tomorrow, but right now.

Three: Make a list of all your various options. Be creative. Think out of the box. Try looking at the situation from different points of view. Brainstorm. Come up with as many potential solutions as possible, no matter how silly or absurd they may seem. Ask your friends what they would do under the same circumstances. Keep on adding more and more possible solutions.

Fourth: Decide how you are going to move forward. Consider each and every possible solution. How long will the solution take? Do you have the knowledge and skills to implement the solution? What are the likely outcomes if you decide to adopt a particular solution?

Fifth: Finally, and most important of all, start to solve the problem. Obviously, sometimes the solution might involve waiting rather than rushing to do something foolhardy-that’s fine, providing your inaction is part of a plan and not simple procrastination. Also, be prepared to adapt your solution as the future unfolds. Such self-restraint and flexibility are important aspects of being lucky. But the important point is that you start to concentrate on finding a solution rather than fixating on the problem.” Pg. 167

Oh, just last thing I gotta get in before I close this blog, I have a feeling I'm gonna piss off
some people. But I don't care. So here goes with my closing thought. If you become a fervent, spirit-filled Christian (or Messianic believer, whichever term you find most apt), you will automatically fulfill all of the conditions needed to attract luck. So good luck and G-d bless!