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The Luck Factor
Book

The Luck Factor

Changing Your Luck, Changing Your Life

Richard Wiseman
Miramax, 2003
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Editorial Rating

7

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Recommendation

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be much luckier than others? Why do people believe that a piece of jewelry or clothing can bring good luck? Why do they feel the need to avoid things that they consider harbingers of bad luck? In this delightfully written book, Dr. Richard Wiseman shows that good mental health – not superstition – determines good luck. He highlights four of the fundamental psychological principles that lucky people instinctively follow to generate good fortune in their lives. He promises that by keeping a “Luck Journal” and following the exercises and questionnaires in the book, you can gauge and nurture the source of luck in your life. This book reveals how good psychological habits and positive action can bring good fortune into your life. Wiseman presents his thoughts in a fun way, with entertaining anecdotes. getAbstract recommends this fresh self-help book to those who want to improve the quality of their lives or, in other words, get lucky.

Summary

Unplanned Events Can Change Your Life

On a scale of one (luck has nothing to do with your life) to seven (luck has a lot to do with your life), which number would you select to represent how lucky you are as a whole? After you have written down a number for how generally lucky you think you are, carefully consider important events in your life, such as meeting your spouse or a best friend, the highlights of how your career has developed, or an important event that is central to your life story. Rate how lucky you think you were in each of these events or experiences on the same luck scale of one to seven. Then reconsider the overall role of luck in your life. You most likely wrote down a higher number for the role luck played in each special event than you did for the general role luck has in your life.

Everyone can come up with stories from their own lives – or the lives of friends or even from the lives of famous people – in which a chance meeting, a few moments spent haphazardly this way or that, or a decision seemingly made by the toss of a coin, changed things forever in ways no one could ever have expected or planned. This is often referred to as having...

About the Author

Dr. Richard Wiseman, a performing magician in his youth, is a professor of psychology at the University of Herfordshire in the U.K.

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