Can You Change Your Luck?

And is luck even a real thing? It's complicated

- Galadriel Watson

Sometimes, everything seems to go wrong. You’re passed over for a job. Your zipper breaks. Your cat keeps throwing up. Faced with setbacks large and small, you feel like your life is always taking a turn for the worse. You aren’t superstitious, but you begin to wonder if you’re just an unlucky person. Why does it seem like you can never catch a break?

I’ve been feeling this way lately. In hopes of improving my outlook, I turned to three experts who helped me understand why we believe in luck and how we can harness that belief to make real changes in our attitude toward life.

What Is Luck?

PEOPLE DEFINE LUCK in three ways, according to Jacqueline Woolley, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. First, we often use the term luck as synonymous with ‘chance’; we may call it lucky to win at a slot machine, although it’s actually a random event. Another way to frame luck is “as a supernatural force that exists in the universe,” she says. This force may touch on different people at different times, and some people believe it also can be harnessed, with a ritual or charm. Third, it can be thought of as a personal trait that you’re born with.