What the Luck: Your 4-Step Patty Party

When I think about how much I’ve grown in the past 2 years alone, I feel pretty darn lucky. Which is timely since St. Patrick’s Day is this Sunday.

But I use “luck” here on purpose…because there’s a science to luck. And that’s what I’m here to share today. Lucky you!

It’s time to say goodbye to the Pity Parties and the Petty Parties, in favor of Patty Parties. (Should I trademark that?)

Contrary to popular belief, luck doesn’t only happen to other people. Nope. According to luck researcher, Dr. Richard Wiseman (who used to be a magician, btw), luck is more about the ways in which we think and act, and less about metaphysical forces.

Put another way: Lucky people are LUCKY because they think and act in ways that cause good things to happen for them.

Here’s why: our brains need to filter the 34 GB of information we face each day (for context, our phones process 1-2 GB per month). To make this even more manageable, our brains get really good at looking for the things we tell it to look for (consciously and subconsciously).

You’ve probably seen this in action before, . Like when you’re thinking about buying a particular car and then you see it pop up everywhere. (And it’s not because the Internet turds are peppering you with ads based on some errant click you made.)

Since our brains are trainable, we can decide to look for the pot of gold in any situation. Here’s how:

Embrace optimism

Listen to your annoying friend who’s always telling you to look on the bright side--they’re on to something. Research shows that the luckiest people EXPECT good luck, visualize it, and believe good things will happen to them. Thoughts à feelings à actions à reality.

Bonus: Optimistic people are more resilient, feel happier, and are in better health.

Try new things

If you want to be lucky, you need to do what lucky people do in their free time (hint: it’s not binge watching Game of Thrones...#nojudgment): try new things, create stuff, experiment with new perspectives.

The more you focus on looking for new opportunities and trying new things, the more it’s going to seem like you’re tripping over luck because you’re putting yourself in more situations where something cool can happen. Like saying hi to the cutie in the elevator, volunteering, or signing up for that watercolor class.

Count YOUR lucky charms

The last piece to this Patty Party Puzzle is lucky charms! No, not the cereal. (Ew!)

You don’t have to be superstitious to don your lucky underwear during a big presentation. And contrary to what your friends might tell you, you’re not being irrational. Turns out, you’re actually tuned in to the science of lucky charms.

People who carry special trinkets or perform certain rituals before big life events actually plug into the power of lucky charms to feel more control in the moment, which leads to more courage, which leads to more success.

So throw yourself a bit, ol' Patty Party with these four steps: