Posted under Career Management on January 8th, 2008
I have been enjoying a giggle or two this last week while reading Scott Adams’ latest book compiled from his Dilbert blog. He very unscientifically makes the observation that success is roughly due to brains and talent (30%), luck (30%), looks (20%), and school reputation (20%). He references a book: The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman. Professor Wiseman conducted 10 years of study on luck and discovered four principles. I see several parallels between his “luck” factors and success among job search candidates. Why do some candidates seem “luckier” than others when it comes to uncovering employment opportunities? An article by Alan Bellows explains:
Lucky people are skilled at creating, noticing and acting upon chance opportunities. They do this in various ways, including networking, adopting a relaxed attitude to life and by being open to new experiences.
Lucky people make effective decisions by listening to their intuition and gut feelings. In addition, they take steps to actively boost their intuitive abilities by, for example, meditating and clearing their mind of other thoughts.
Principle Three: Expect Good Fortune
Lucky people are certain that the future is going to be full of good fortune. These expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies by helping lucky people persist in the face of failure, and shape their interactions with others in a positive way.
Principle Four: Turn Bad Luck to Good
Lucky people employ various psychological techniques to cope with, and often even thrive upon, the ill fortune that comes their way. For example, they spontaneously imagine how things could have been worse, do not dwell on the ill fortune, and take control of the situation.
The best part is that Professor Wiseman proposes that people can learn how to be more lucky. No surprise that optimistic people tend to be “luckier” and we can all act more optimistically to help create our own “luck.”
Posted by Faith Sheaffer-Thornberry
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