Source: https://qz.com/1360304/science-shows-that-luck-is-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/
- how lucky we feel influences our future fortunes.
- luck begets luck
- This makes optimists the luckiest people of all
- optimists are more likely to see other people’s experiences as lucky, while pessimists focus on misfortune in the same set of facts
- “a significant positive correlation” between subjects’ level of optimism and how lucky they thought others were.
- judgments about luck are inconsistent and changeable, “the predictable result of framing effects and idiosyncratic personality traits.”
- most people mistakenly believe their success is the inevitable result of hard work or personal qualities, ignoring the fact that they’ve made a lucky draw in a numbers game.
- people who acknowledge luck as an element of their success are more attractive to others.
- the ability to recognize fortune’s role makes for a more humble person—and humility is a more attractive quality than arrogance.
- luck is a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.
- Wiseman posits that feeling unlucky creates fear and anxiety, which in turn makes us less likely to see opportunities. Lucky people are, to some degree, those who keep their eyes, minds, and hearts open, making themselves available for fortune.
- The luckiest among us, then, are great storytellers—magical realists who can see the upside of downturns and consider how much worse things might have been.
- People who can spin a yarn that emphasizes what went right, rather than focusing solely on what went awry, ultimately create good fortune, and thus up their chances of getting lucky again