I've always appreciated the quotes and stories about how hard work perseveres over blind luck. While I don't discount that occasionally real luck comes along at just the right time - I suspect that more often we create our own luck. That perfect job doesn't just come along; you don't just happen to get a great mark on a test; the perfect partner doesn't just happen to be where you went out. Rather, I think you found the perfect job because you were working hard to find it (submitting resumes, searching job ads, networking with the right people); you got a great mark because you did the homework, went to class, and studied; you found your perfect partner because (like the job) you hung out with people you liked - perhaps s/he was doing the same at the same time.

Well now there is a study that shows you can improve your luck. It examined "lucky people" and their attitudes and behaviours, and compared them to those of "unlucky people." The researchers were able to show that lucky people were better at seeing opportunity (and then taking advantage of it. It wasn't that they got more opportunities, just that they were better at recognizing when they did happen. The linked article (here) used one experiment where the subjects were given a task (count the photographs in a newspaper). There was a half page ad with 2 inch type on the second page that said "Stop counting. There are 43 ..." Although the lucky people tended to see this and stop counting, the unlucky people had such a narrow focus (looking for images) that they tended to miss the ad and kept counting.

The studies examined a number of other factors, but one central fact was that tense people have a harder time noticing things - even (maybe especially) when they are specifically looking for those things. Those who are less apt to focus on only one thing will notice more.

The study's author was able to create a "luck school" and teach unlucky people how to be more lucky. They emphasized four principles and tried to teach three techniques to improve them. 80% became "luckier."

Four principles

[Lucky people] are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

Three techniques

Unlucky people often fail to follow their intuition when making a choice, whereas lucky people tend to respect hunches.

Unlucky people tend to be creatures of routine ... In contrast, many lucky people try to introduce variety into their lives. [see my earlier blog entry on practising change]

Lucky people tend to see the positive side of their ill fortune. They imagine how things could have been worse.

So - if you are unlucky - you can with a little effort become luckier. Try it, what can you lose?

Lastly, some quotes about work and luck:

"Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The harder I work, the luckier I get. - Sam Goldwyn

When I work fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, I get lucky. - Dr Armand Hammer

It's hard to detect good luck - it looks so much like something you've earned. - Frank A. Clark

I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. - Thomas Jefferson

The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work. ~Harry Golden

Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it, and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work -- and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't. - Lucille Ball

Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price. - Vince Lombardi

Learn to be lucky. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3304496/Be-lucky---its-an-easy-skill-to-learn.html