It's all in our thinking

The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman was a great read! I am currently taking Positive Psychology with Professor Spinella and everything from the article translates into the science of Positive Psychology. Luck is nothing more than our outlook on life. In positive psych we have discussed the practice of benefit finding. Benefit finding is a technique that people use to find the good parts of every situation. It is a practice that can dramatically alter your life, if you implement it into your daily routine.

Benefit Finding is looking for the positive aspects in any situation. In the article, Wiseman describes a bank robbery scene and asks "lucky" and "unlucky" people to explain how they would react: "they were waiting to be served in a bank. Suddenly, an armed robber enters
the bank, fires a shot, and the bullet hits them in the arm. Would this event be lucky or unlucky?
Unlucky people tended to say that this would be enormously unlucky and it would be just their bad luck to be in the bank during the robbery. In contrast, lucky people viewed the scenario as being far luckier, and often spontaneously commented on how the situation could have been far worse." This is a perfect example of benefit finding. People who are considered "lucky" were looking for the positive aspects in the situation and therefore would have been "luckier" than others if they had been in that situation. People who practice benefit finding look for the good in every situation and therefor are not upset and traumatized by situations. They are able to think clearly and benefit from every situation.

If we can all begin to practice this art, then we would see a dramatic change in our "luck". We all have the power to be happy and enjoy life. This article proves that with the right tools we can all make those changes to be "luckier".