The Luck Factor A review of two books

The Luck Factor by Max Gunther The Luck Factor by Dr Richard Wiseman

Copyright Colin Nicholson 1

Copyright Colin Nicholson 2

The Luck Factor by Max Gunther The first part: general introduction and broad definition of luck:

events that influence our life and are seemingly beyond our control

The second part: Speculations on the Nature of Luck: Some Scientific Tries, specifically The Randomness Theory, The Psychic

Theories and The Synchronicity Theory.

The third part: Speculations on the Nature of Luck: Some Cult and Mystical Tries, specifically Numbers, Destiny, God, Charms, Signs and

Portents.

The fourth part: The Luck Adjustment: the five components

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The five components of the luck adjustment The Spiderweb Structure The Hunching Skill Audentes Fortuna Juvat The Ratchet Effect The Pessimism Paradox

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The Spiderweb Structure Basic idea: luckiest men and women tend to, over a lifetime, have formed many friendly contacts with other people.

At the time they will generally have no idea where that will lead. (if they did, resulting good fortune would not be luck).

Luck occurs when something good happens and one of the contacts is the conduit through which luck finds its way to us.

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The Hunching Skill Hunch: a feeling from time to time that might seem a bit like knowledge, but we feel is something not to be trusted as a confirmed fact.

Lucky people tend to trust their hunches (unlucky people rarely do).

Not that simple: Not any hunch will do. Lucky people seem to have an ability to formulate accurate hunches. AND they act on them (unlucky people dont).

Ability to generate sound hunches was a skill that can be learned. To do so there are three rules:

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First rule: Learn to assess the database. Key idea is we don't really know what our feeling is based on. However, it will be based upon knowledge about the general area covered by the hunch. Two problems to be avoided:

One never trust a hunch about someone we have just met.

Two never regard a hunch as a way of avoiding hard work researching.

Second rule: Never confuse a hunch with hope. (something that you want very badly to believe to be true). Do the research.

Third rule: make room for hunches to grow. learn to listen to feelings, respect them and consider them carefully. (most important of the three rules). This rule has two corollaries:

One: don't smother a hunch by over analysing it. Instead ask more and more questions about how and why you feel the way you do.

Two: collect soft facts along with hard. Soft facts: feelings or impressions. Those who habitually confine analysis to hard facts are at the opposite hunch pole.

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Audentes Fortuna Juvat (fortune favours the bold) General rule: lucky people tend to be bold (least lucky people tend to be timid). Some rules to develop boldness:

The First Rule: always ready to embrace lucky opportunities.

The Second Rule: know the difference between boldness and rashness.

The Third Rule: don't insist on complete advance knowledge of a situation (rare to have all the facts). When all facts obvious opportunity already missed.

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The Ratchet Effect Ratchet: device that preserves gains. Allows to move forward boldly, but without slipping back so far that we are wiped out financially. e.g. act on hunches, but if situation goes wrong - quickly get out before losses out of control. Two obstacles unlucky people never overcome:

It's too hard to say I was wrong (born losers have overwhelming need to prove their own brilliance).

It's too hard to abandon investment. (Investment: money, love, time, effort, commitment, or a combination of them). Losers see investments as being part of them and try desperately to protect them.

Ratchet effect: Lucky people enter attractive ventures that might have otherwise scared them away, but their potential losses are limited by their ability to cut and run when bad luck intervenes. At the same time their potential gains are unlimited.

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The pessimism paradox Truly lucky people tend to be pessimists.

e.g. Commodity speculator whose mantra: Out of every four trades I'll lose money on three of them.

Associated with two Cardinal Law's:

Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong it will.

Mitchell's Law: Life is slippery like a piece of soap. If you think you have a good grip on it, you are wrong.

Both laws say: never enter a situation without knowing what we will do when it goes wrong."

END Gunther book review.

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The Luck Factor by Dr Richard Wiseman Luck is best seen as a chance event that is outside our control.

Luck can be either good luck or bad luck.

Some usages of the term luck:

It was just (good) luck that I found out about the ATAA I wish you (good) luck with your investments It was just my (bad) luck to drop my i-pad on the way to the airport As (bad) luck would have it, my stock announced a big loss out of the blue

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In the general population everyone is on a spectrum:

50% consider themselves lucky 36% consider themselves neither lucky nor unlucky 14% consider themselves unlucky

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The obvious question to ask is why are we lucky? Research shows it is not:

Due to psychic ability Related to intelligence

Interestingly, lucky people tend to think that the chance opportunities that come along for them are the result of pure chance. Now, clearly, some things like lotteries are random and pure chance, but life is not like a lottery. Often our expectations make a difference in:

Whether we find ourselves in the right place at the right time Whether we try something How hard we persist in the face of failure How we interact with others How others interact with us

Research shows that it has a lot to do with the way lucky people think and behave.

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The payoff is that we can move along the spectrum:

Lucky people can make themselves luckier Those neither lucky nor unlucky can move themselves into the lucky range Unlucky people can make themselves lucky a complete makeover

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The four principles that Dr Wiseman discovered are:

1. Maximise your chance opportunities 2. Listen to your lucky hunches 3. Expect good fortune 4. Turn your bad luck into good luck

Each of these principles has within it some sub-principles.

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Principle One: Maximise your chance opportunities Lucky people create, notice and act upon the chance opportunities in their lives.

They do this though three sub-principles:

1. Lucky people build and maintain a strong network of luck 2. Lucky people have a relaxed attitude towards life 3. Lucky people are open to new experiences in their lives

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Principle Two: Listen to your lucky hunches Lucky people make successful decisions by using their intuition and gut feelings.

They do this through two sub-principles:

1. Lucky people listen to their gut feelings and hunches 2. Lucky people take steps to boost their intuition

Note: Intuition and gut feelings must be based on a wide spectrum of knowledge, much of it residing in their unconscious mind. This knowledge can often not be brought to mind consciously, but emerges unconsciously to guide us in forming the right hunches. Mostly, we cannot explain the reasons for these hunches. We just know that they are right.

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Principle Three: Expect good fortune Lucky peoples expectations about the future help them fulfil their dreams and ambitions.

They do this through three sub-principles:

1. Lucky people expect their good luck to continue in the future 2. Lucky people attempt to achieve their goals, even if their chances of

success seems slim, and they persevere in the face of failure 3. Lucky people expect their interactions with others to be lucky and

successful.

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Principle Four: Turn your bad luck into good Lucky people are able to transform their bad luck into good fortune.

They do this through four sub-principles:

Lucky people see the positive side of their bad luck Lucky people are convinced that any ill fortune in their lives will, in

the long run, work out for the best Lucky people do not dwell on ill fortune Lucky people take constructive steps to prevent more bad luck in the

future

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What more is there in the book? Description of the research and detailed findings Case studies and examples to bring the material to life Suggested exercises to help you become more like the lucky people A five stage Learning to be Lucky program outline Some case studies of people who have undertaken the program

END Wiseman book review

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