How to Be Lucky

I don’t think there’s much point in believing in luck. Undeniably, the person born to millionaire parents in the USA is luckier than the child of a crack addict in a slum in The Gambia, but in a comparison between two average Joes, it doesn’t serve much practical purpose to describe one person as being naturally lucky and the other as naturally unlucky.


The way I think about it, “luck,” good or bad, is just the positive or negative outcomes in life. Many are purely the result of chance, like winning Blackjack (I know, wait a minute) or the Lottery, but when you think about “luck” in terms of positive or negative results in life, I think it makes you realise how much of your “luck” you actually control. And if you can control it, you can make it better.

The crux of the issue is a popular quote, “The harder you work, the luckier you get”, which could also be phrased as “the more work you put in, the more positive outcomes you’ll have in your life.” To take the example of Blackjack, though it may seem to be down to chance, actually the person who puts a little effort into learning by heart a table of the statistically best moves to make in any given position will have slightly better luck than before. The person who puts a lot of effort into learning how to card count will have much better luck and a bigger bank balance. More realistic examples are the person who puts works harder at practising golf and improving his physical fitness winning more golf games, or the person who studies harder getting a higher score in a test, and going to a better college.

You’re probably thinking that the problem with this is that people already work hard but still lose games, still get bad scores and still get passed over for promotion. This is why I change the previous quote to “The harder and smarter you work, the luckier you get.” It’s not enough just to do more of the same. I think Einstein’s definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If a student is revising for 8 hours a day and still getting low scores, simply working harder and studying for 12 hours a day won’t make him luckier. Trying out several new ways of revising and finding one that works much better for him will allow him to get a higher score, maybe with fewer hours of revision... clearly his “luck” has improved.

What about the person working in the accounts section of Dundermifflin Paper Co, who always comes to work early, works unpaid overtime yet still gets passed over for promotion and feels stuck in their job? Like the student doing more of the same, coming to work earlier, working faster and doing more overtime is not going to suddenly increase their luck and make a pay rise appear. That is working harder, but not smarter. It won’t get the promotion and it might even make other parts of their life worse. Instead, what if the accountant took a night or weekend course that would get them an additional qualification or certification for some new business software? They’d have to work hard and might lose some free time for a few months, but with their new skills, they could better justify a raise to management, or even apply for a new job.

So if you want to know how to be lucky, I believe you should think outside the box and make sure that you work harder and smarter.

If, however, you think people are stuck with the hand they’ve been dealt, write a comment! If you’ve worked hard and smart (or are lucky) to be able to give me an enjoyable and lucrative job, also comment! (Now THAT would be luck)

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