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    The Science of Being Lucky: How to Engineer Good Fortune, Consistently Catch Lucky Breaks, and Live a Charmed Life
    The Science of Being Lucky: How to Engineer Good Fortune, Consistently Catch Lucky Breaks, and Live a Charmed Life
    The Science of Being Lucky: How to Engineer Good Fortune, Consistently Catch Lucky Breaks, and Live a Charmed Life
    Ebook108 pages2 hours

    The Science of Being Lucky: How to Engineer Good Fortune, Consistently Catch Lucky Breaks, and Live a Charmed Life

    By Peter Hollins

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Practical, real life methods to become the luckiest person you know with – no lucky charms or rituals needed to beat the odds.



    Luck – we’re not sure what it is, but we know we want it on our side. Is luck a cosmic force that we can randomly stumble upon, or is there something real that people we consider lucky have discovered? The Science of Being Lucky is an in-depth look at what all lucky people have in common and how they set themselves up for success time after time.


    Put success into your own hands, not fate's.



    The Science of Being Lucky takes you on a science-based journey into what luck is, what we think it is, and how to get more of it in your life. The journey begins by breaking down and defining the lucky breaks, coincidences, and serendipitous events in our lives – then delves into the specific traits, life factors, and perspectives that create lucky outcomes.
    The Science of Being Lucky will open your eyes to what is behind each moment you would call lucky and give you a concrete action plan to create more of the same. Luck doesn’t have to be just fantasy.


    Become immune to bad luck.



    Peter Hollins has studied psychology and peak human performance for over a dozen years and is a bestselling author. He has worked with dozens of individuals to unlock their potential and path towards success. His writing draws on his academic, coaching, and research experience. He’s no stranger to bad luck, having broken the same toe three times, but he’s found ways to reverse his luck and live the good life.


    Ditch the lucky underwear and rabbit’s foot.



    -The human illusion of control and lucky thinking.
    -Popular methods for luck – do they work? (One does, one does not)
    -The downside of probabilities.
    -Avoiding bad luck internally and externally.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPublishdrive
    Release dateAug 16, 2019
    ISBN9781974494934
    The Science of Being Lucky: How to Engineer Good Fortune, Consistently Catch Lucky Breaks, and Live a Charmed Life
    Author

    Peter Hollins

    Pete Hollins is a bestselling author and human psychology and behavior researcher. He is a dedicated student of the human condition. He possesses a BS and MA in psychology, and has worked with dozens of people from all walks of life. After working in private practice for years, he has turned his sights to writing and applying his years of education to help people improve their lives from the inside out. He enjoys hiking with his family, drinking craft beers, and attempting to paint. He is based in Seattle, Washington. To learn more about Hollins and his work, visit PeteHollins.com.

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      Book preview

      The Science of Being Lucky - Peter Hollins

      Life

      The Science of Being Lucky:

      How to Engineer Good Fortune, Consistently Catch Lucky Breaks, and Live a Charmed Life

      By Peter Hollins,

      Author and Researcher at petehollins.com

      Click for your FREE Human Nature Cheat Sheet: 7 Surprising Psychology Studies That Will Change The Way You Think.

      Table of Contents

      The Science of Being Lucky: How to Engineer Good Fortune, Consistently Catch Lucky Breaks, and Live a Charmed Life

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1. Luck of the Draw

      Chapter 2. The Illusion of Control

      Chapter 3. As Seen on Oprah …

      Chapter 4. Coincidence and Serendipity

      Chapter 5. Traits for Luck

      Chapter 6. The Four Factors

      Chapter 7. Strategic Luck Planning

      Chapter 8. What About Bad Luck?

      Chapter 9. Supernatural Thinking

      Chapter 10. Luck in Science

      Conclusion

      Summary Guide

      Introduction

      I wish I could say this story happened to a friend, but alas, it happened to me.

      If you’ve never been to Las Vegas, there are actually not that many things to do, in my opinion. Correction – there are many things to do, but they all fall into a few general categories. If you’re into the nightlife, the scene there is unparalleled. But if you’re not, like me, then mostly what there is to do is spend too much money on extravagant activities or simply lose it gambling.

      I chose to engage in the latter. This was during my third trip there, so I considered myself experienced in the nuances of gambling and superstitions. After all, I had won roughly $200 my last trip to the roulette table, so I felt like I knew what I was doing.

      Now, this isn’t a story about me losing a fortune. Instead, it’s a story about my naked lack of understanding about how some people treat the concept of good luck and attempt to bend the will of the universe to suit their needs. So there I was, back at the roulette table with my lucky penny in my pocket, when I sit down next to a man who smelled like a dirty laundry hamper, and that’s putting it mildly.

      He was dressed in a suit and his hair looked clean and non-greasy, so what was happening here? What odd situation did I find myself in at this roulette table? I must have made some sort of face in reaction to the smell, because the man apologetically smiled and told me that he was sorry for the smell, and that it was attributable to his lucky socks. He pulled up his pant legs and showed me a pair of ratty, beige socks riddled with holes, and which didn’t appear to have any elastic left in them. The socks probably started as white, but became beige through years of wear and lack of washing.

      Before placing our bets, the man sheepishly grinned and said, Last washed eight years ago. Gotta keep that luck juice!

      At that moment, I suddenly knew that my good luck charms and rituals paled in comparison to what was happening in the world. I left shortly thereafter.

      The Science of Luck — good luck, being lucky, and avoiding bad luck — examines humanity’s curious tendency to want to feel included in what their life has in store for them. Think about it this way: Is it more comforting to have a steering wheel appear to change the car’s direction, or have no steering wheel at all and suddenly you are headed straight at a wall? Whatever luck is, we want it on our side. It seemingly has the ability to create the life we want, or leave us in ruins. If we’re in the right place at the right time, perhaps we’ll run into that one person who can make a huge difference in our career.

      And so on. The possibilities are endless.

      Is luck just another word for cosmic fate and we are born with it, or is it something that is manipulated by good luck charms like unwashed socks or avoiding black cats? Is there a certain way we can act in practical terms that will make us more susceptible to better outcomes, and what we might consider better luck?

      Luckily, the results are in and it’s been proven that luck is a trait which can be engineered and manufactured. It has nothing to do with four leaf clovers or broken mirrors and everything to do with changing the way we imagine the concept of luck.

      Is this book going to help you become luckier and lead what appears to be a semi-charmed life? If you mean that it’s going to lead you to more beneficial situations in every walk of life, then yes. After all, that’s really what we’re after with luck, isn’t it?

      Chapter 1. Luck of the Draw

      What is luck, and why do people want it so badly? Why do we care if black cats cross our paths, or if we are wearing our smelly yet lucky underwear while watching our favorite teams play?

      We all grow up with the general idea that our actions are not the only factor at play in the outcomes of our lives — that there is some amount of random chance that’s either working in our favor or against it. We call this random chance luck. If we’re lucky, good things happen, and if we’re unlucky, bad things happen.

      The belief in luck has manifested itself in different ways for different cultures and traditions for as long as there has been recorded history. In Western countries, there’s an old saying: See a penny, pick it up, and all day long you’ll have good luck. In Eastern countries, many times you can’t enter a restaurant without catching a glimpse of a statue of a cat waving at you.

      Whatever the case, the idea of having good fortune and doing everything possible to channel this ephemeral blessing is often far more valuable to people than the coins or cats themselves. Just as accumulating good luck is highly desirable, avoiding bad luck is also of significant importance in many cultures. In fact, there are countless superstitions people hold for the sole purpose of avoiding misfortune, such as skipping the 13th floor in high-rise buildings or not walking under ladders.

      The only thing we know for sure about luck is that we want to have it on our side.

      The Human Need for Control

      Throughout history, we have developed an increasingly better understanding of our world and universe. Yet even now, many of the complexities of our day-to-day existence are so far beyond comprehension that we can only reliably predict and understand a tiny fraction of them. It doesn’t matter if you’re one of the world’s top engineers — there are still things that would appear magical to you. We know logically that everything is a result of cause and effect, but when we are unable to actually see the underlying cause and effect in a given scenario, we have a strong tendency to find or create other explanations for why everything is the way it is. Luck is often a convenient substitute to allow us to feel more in control and less subject to the realities of chaos theory.

      We are constantly seeking control, so we think if we could only know what is going to happen, then we would be able to use that knowledge to our advantage. Hence, good luck charms and rituals. This drive for control causes us to model, predict, and manage the world around us, which has led to a great deal of scientific and technological advancement over time — but it also comes at a cost. Where we find limited or no success in our ability to understand our surroundings, we lie to ourselves to fill in the gaps. When things

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