JUST MY LUCK

The social media craze of ‘lucky girl syndrome’ is all about spotting opportunities and taking ownership of our actions, say experts. Helen Coffey asks if it is really you, not the universe, causing your bad fortune – and how to change that

- Helen Coffey

“I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.”

This quote, sometimes paraphrased as “the harder I work, the luckier I get”, is attributed to Polish-born American film producer Samuel Goldwyn, an immigrant who went from being penniless in Warsaw to having a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

His words neatly encapsulate one train of thought when it comes to luck – that, far from some mysterious force based on the whims of the cosmos, it’s something we’re in control of. The opposing ideology, of course, is that “luck” is its own entity. You either have it or you don’t. Some people are inherently lucky (the guy who won the scratch card lottery twice in a row after coming out of a life-threatening coma, say) and some people aren’t (the guy who was allegedly struck twice by lightning).

A third of Britons (34 per cent) confess to being “very” or “somewhat” superstitious, according to YouGov data, with women significantly more likely to be channelling their inner Stevie Wonder than men. Some 30 per cent of people say they believe breaking a mirror is a sign that bad luck is coming their way while, according to a Paddy Power survey, 72 per cent of people in the UK admit they believe in luck.

But is it fate, finding a four-leafed clover, wearing a particular pair of pants or a certain alignment of the planets that govern whether or not things go your way? Or is it all about mindset and perspective?

Focusing on the latter is the key to changing your luck, claims Georgie May, a wellness activist and author of Lucky Girl: