What if a secret to improving your mental health could involve a little something we don’t fully understand? Like luck. It sounds whimsical, doesn’t it? But there’s a fascinating, scientifically-backed link between luck and mental health that you might want to pay attention to. Every year around St. Patrick’s Day, we hear the word “luck” get thrown around. Studies have shown that individuals who consider themselves “lucky” tend to have “better psychological well-being as a result of optimism and the rejection of maladaptive irrational beliefs.” But what does luck have to do with mental health, and how can we harness it in our daily lives? It’s time to unpack what “luck” may really be and how we should treat it in our own mental health journey.
THE FIRST STEP TO “CREATING” YOUR LUCK
To talk about luck in mental health, we first need to dive into one of its key ingredients: optimism. When it comes to your mental health journey, optimism is like the GPS guiding you toward your “lucky” break. A study by Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, found that people who describe themselves as “lucky” tend to notice opportunities more often and are better at making the most of them. They don’t necessarily have a magical force working in their favor—they’re simply more attuned to positive events and are more optimistic about future outcomes. They actively create their luck by maintaining an open, proactive attitude. This isn’t just about having rose-colored glasses; it’s about framing challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles.
So, when we’re talking about luck, we’re really talking about how we frame the events in our lives. A person who feels lucky may not be more fortunate, but they are more likely to see and seize the opportunities that others may overlook. Think about the last time you were in a challenging situation. If you saw it as a hurdle, the potential for “luck” might have slipped past you. But if you saw it and proactively went for it as a potential for growth or a learning opportunity, you may have stumbled upon a lucky moment in disguise.
WHY WE CAN FEEL UNLUCKY
It’s easy to assume that you’re doomed to a lifetime of misfortune if you’re not lucky. This feeling is often the result of a cognitive bias known as negative attribution style, where individuals interpret events in a way that favors the negative. For example, if you don’t get the job you wanted, you might automatically think, “That’s just my luck,” instead of “I didn’t get the job because I may need to refine my interview skills.”
When we allow negative thinking to dominate our minds, it impacts our mental health and can create a self-fulfilling prophecy where we are more likely to spot bad luck everywhere, leading to more negative emotions. But here’s the thing—this bias can be reversed. If we learn to challenge those negative thoughts, we can start seeing the world through a lens that’s more open to positive events and opportunities. For example, someone with a positive mindset might not immediately think, “I must be unlucky” when something bad happens. Instead, they might say, “This is unfortunate, but what can I learn from it?” By adopting a growth mindset, the brain begins to seek solutions, which in turn boosts our resilience while giving us the feeling that we’re creating our own luck.
EMBRACING SERENDIPITY WITHOUT RELYING ON IT
Here’s where it gets really interesting: serendipity. It’s that magical moment when something unexpectedly wonderful happens and feels like pure luck. But the real trick is not to depend on it. While we can’t control serendipity, we can position ourselves to take advantage of it when it strikes. Serendipity is more likely to happen when we are open, curious, and willing to embrace new experiences. This could mean taking on a new hobby, reaching out to someone you admire, or traveling somewhere new.
The act of engaging with the world in a curious and open way increases the chances that unexpected (but delightful) things can happen. Embrace these moments of serendipity—those happy accidents that seem to come out of nowhere. But rather than relying on luck, we can work on actively seeking out new experiences, building resilience to handle whatever comes our way, and—most importantly—maintaining the belief that we can create good fortune for ourselves. The research backs this up. In fact, the more open we are to new experiences, the more we find ourselves in situations where luck seems to strike.
CAN YOU REALLY CREATE YOUR OWN LUCK?
So, what’s the thought on luck? It’s real, but not in the magical, uncontrollable sense we often imagine. Luck is really the product of mental openness, optimism, and the ability to reframe challenges as opportunities. The more we cultivate these traits, the more we can invite good fortune into our lives—not by waiting for it to fall into our laps but by creating the right conditions for it to appear.
The science is clear that people who view themselves as lucky tend to have better mental health, higher resilience, and a stronger sense of well-being. So, as you move forward in your mental health journey, think about how you can begin to create your own luck. Cultivate optimism, challenge your negative thinking, and stay open to the serendipitous moments that may surprise you. By doing so, you may find that, just like in life, luck isn’t just something that happens to you. It’s something you can nurture.
WHEN NEGATIVE THINKING FEELS HARD TO SHIFT
Optimism isn’t about pretending difficult things don’t happen or forcing yourself to look on the bright side. It’s about learning to notice the patterns in how you interpret experiences and developing more flexible ways of responding when things don’t go as planned.
If negative thinking, worry, or expecting the worst has become difficult to manage on your own, therapy can help you understand those patterns and develop healthier ways of responding to them. Learn more about how we approach anxiety therapy in Worthington.