Can You Be Born Lucky?

When someone’s lottery numbers come in, when they survive a lethal plane crash, or when they have a big win at their favourite casino, we’re often quick to tell them just how lucky they are. If you have this kind of obvious good fortune on your side, it can be easy to assume that you are a lucky person: but can you be born lucky? According to the analysis you can find on this website, conducted to determine the luckiest nations in the world it is true that, statistically speaking at least, some people are luckier than others. Here’s why:

The World’s Luckiest Nations

If you are born in a country that boasts economic and political stability, one where there are low levels of crime and a robust healthcare system in place, and one where individuals have high levels of career opportunity and life satisfaction, then you would be determined to be born much luckier than someone born in a country without these advantages. Each country in the world offers a unique combination of each of these factors, but when looked at in conjunction, it has been determined that the three luckiest countries to live in are Switzerland, Iceland and Norway.

Other factors that played a part in determining the luck of a nation included the schooling and higher education opportunities that are afforded to individuals across all cultural demographics, as well as the gross productivity of a nation. This might not seem like a factor that would have a direct impact on the luck (or indeed the happiness) of an individual, but GDP is one of the most significant factors in determining a nation’s economic activity, with the nations that have the higher GDP being the nations that are the most privelaged.

Using this criterion then, you can be born lucky based on the country where you are born. But of course, this is a high-level approach, and one that doesn’t focus on individual autonomy. Regardless of where you were born, or your birth status, you can rarely be either lucky or successful without the drive to develop and improve yourself, and the determination to succeed. From a practical point of view the more you take control of your own life, and the less you leave to chance, the luckier you will be. By putting yourself in the right situations and exposing yourself to the right people, you will soon find that your levels of ‘luck’ increase.

The Science Behind Luck

According to British psychologist Richard Wiseman, Professor in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, luck isn’t always as unexpected or indefinable as many people might think. In fact, luck can be determined by a variety of scientifically measurable factors, including behaviour, mindset and, as mentioned above, lifestyle. According to Wiseman, the main factor that determines whether someone will be lucky or not is their attitude. If you are going to be lucky then you should be open to new opportunities and open minded. Even your facial expressions can play a factor in determining your levels of luck, which individuals that smile found to attract more luck than those with negative or blank facial expressions.

Another tip shared by Dr Wiseman is to expect good luck: expect good things to happen to you and it’s more likely that they will. Positive expectations can not only help you to attract more luck, they can also help you to deal with any inevitable disappointments (because even the luckiest people can’t be lucky all the time). In effect, luck is a self-fulfilling prophecy: the luckier you think you are going to be, the luckier you will be. Confidence is key here, and staying open to opportunities so that you’re always going to be in the right place at the right time. Wiseman believes so strongly that luck is something that you can learn and develop that he teaches his own classes to others to help them hone their skills in drawing luck to them, as well as operating a successful YouTube channel with over 350 million views : perhaps an example of how Wiseman himself has made his own luck!

How to Make Your Own Luck

It is often said you can make your own luck: you may consider yourself to be naturally lucky poker player, for example, but unless you put the work into learning the game and practicing your poker face you will never be the best version you could be. It is thought that you can attract good luck with positive thinking, visualising success and inviting good things to come into your life. But you might find that, rather than focus on these techniques which have not been scientifically proven to be successful, your levels of luck will increase when you instead put the hard work into achieving your goals. Gain the qualifications you need to secure your dream job; move to somewhere that will offer more opportunities to you; surround yourself with people that make you feel that you are enough.

Luck is nothing more than the outcome of a chance event, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have an impact on that outcome. Is someone that studies for their exams and then passes them luckier than someone that doesn’t study and then fails? Are individuals who own their own businesses, for example, more successful than those that don’t because they are luckier, or because they worked harder? The answers to these questions differ on a case-by-case basis, of course, but are both worth considering when discussing what luck really means.

The concept of good luck is as much about hard work as it is about anything else, so don’t be discouraged if you weren’t born in a lucky location or if you don’t consider yourself to be a lucky person: instead focus on what you can do to make your own luck!