Conclusion
Throughout history, everyone from kings to beggars has tried to entice good luck. Yet, despite extensive research, luck remains elusive and hard to pin down. In fact, we know little more about the subject than the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans did thousands of years ago.
Luck explains how one person receives a series of lucky opportunities while someone else with equal ability does not. The success of one and the failure of the other are both caused by luck. Luck is fickle too, and comes and goes without apparent cause. Someone can be lucky one day, and unlucky the next.
Many people throughout history have worn good luck charms. President Theodore Roosevelt had a lucky rabbit’s foot, and Emperor Napoleon carried a lucky coin. President Barack Obama has several good luck charms.1 There are good reasons to carry them, too. A 2003 university study in the United Kingdom demonstrated that people who carry lucky charms not only feel luckier, but actually become luckier.2 This is because the lucky charm gives them confidence, and consequently increases their chances of success.
Dr. Lysann Damisch of the University of Cologne asked twenty-eight students to participate in an experiment. They were all told to bring a lucky charm with them. The charms were taken away to be photographed, but only half were returned. The students were told there was a problem with the photography and their charms would be returned later. The students were then asked to participate in a memory test involving matching cards on a computer. The students who had their lucky charm with them performed better than the other students.3 This shows that people believe in their lucky charms, and it is this that makes them work.
Niels Bohr (1885–1962), the Danish physicist and Nobel Prize winner, had a different opinion. A visitor noticed Bohr had a horseshoe hanging over the front door of his house and asked if he believed it brought him good luck. Bohr is reputed to have replied: “Of course not. But I am told it works even if you don’t believe in it.” 4
If you don’t feel lucky, act as if you are. Developing and maintaining a positive mindset will help you attract all the good things life has to offer.
I hope you try out some of the ideas in this book and make up your own mind. Good luck!