How Openness May Invite Better Fortune
The piece explores the idea that people can increase their exposure to lucky breaks by staying curious, flexible, and alert to possibilities. It cites psychologist Richard Wiseman's work on creating opportunities and expecting good outcomes. A mindset focused on negative expectations, by contrast, may reinforce a sense of being unlucky.
Richard Wiseman, a University of Hertfordshire psychologist and author of The Luck Factor, proposes that people can cultivate luck-related habits. He connects curiosity, flexibility, positive expectation, and noticing opportunities with better outcomes.
The article also invokes the Matthew Effect, a late-1960s concept from Robert Merton and Harriet Zuckerman. Named for a biblical parable, it describes how initial advantages can accumulate, which the piece extends to the idea that lucky people may keep expecting and finding luck.
This framing may influence how readers interpret setbacks and opportunities. People who feel chronically unlucky could be encouraged to examine expectations and remain open to new paths, potentially improving resilience or help-seeking. Employers, educators, and mental-health practitioners may also use such ideas to promote flexible thinking. However, emphasizing personal mindset could risk overlooking structural barriers, so its societal effect may depend on balancing individual outlook with material and social constraints.