Friday 13th: Lucky for Some?

Are you dreading Friday 13th, fearing that this unluckiest of days will bring you nothing but trouble? Fear not, as someone who has looked into this thing we call 'luck', I hereby present my Top Five Tips to attract good luck on Friday 13th (or indeed any day!)...

 

Embrace 'luck'
So many things in life are uncertain, unexpected and unplanned. Most days (including Friday 13th!) will involve events like this, big or small. The challenge (indeed, the fun!) is to embrace these events and acknowledge that much of what happens to us is down to luck, good and bad.
 
Expect good luck
If you tend to expect good luck rather than bad, you may find that you're actually likely to have more positive experiences. This is due to what psychologists call a 'self-fulfilling prophecy' in that your belief that things will work out in your favour influences how you interact with the world, which in turn affects the things that happen to you. This might at first seem at odds with Tip 1, but there are many things we might put down to luck, which we can influence! Combining tips 1 and 2 in the right way can be quite powerful, especially on a day like Friday 13th, when others are expecting the worst.
 
Be open to opportunity
There are opportunities around us all the time, we just don't pay attention to them! A relaxed and open attitude to what's around you can be enough to spot these opportunities and recognise them as such. It's within these opportunities that many 'good luck' experiences can lie.  And don't forget your own role in creating opportunities... Striking up conversations and taking yourself out of your comfort zone are simple but important ways of making opportunities, and making your own luck.
 
Go with the flow
The idea of 'going with the flow' often gets a bad press, but knowing which way the wind is blowing and letting yourself to be carried along with the breeze is actually a great way to let luck into your life. It requires an element of trust that you get what you need and that unplanned events, if you let them, they can be the source of the exciting surprises!
 
Dealing with bad luck
OK, let's be honest... This is what you're worried about when it comes to Friday 13th isn't it? In some ways it brings us back to Tip 1, because even though you may now be better equipped to attract and create more good luck into your life each day, there's no getting away from the fact that bad things do happen. They are a part of life. But you can still use simple psychology to deal with these effectively. For example, one way is to remember that no matter what happens, it could be worse, so keep things in perspective. Psychologists refer to this idea of comparing what has happened to what might have happened as 'counterfactual thinking', and it can be a powerful tool in spotting the good luck in the bad.

So there you go... 5 Top Tips for attracting good luck on Friday 13th, Saturday 14th, and beyond! Try them out and let me know how you get on... (It's better than hiding under the sheets all day!)

For those of you in and around London who would like to come out and play on Friday 13th, check out the Luck Supper at Urban Woot where we will be enjoying amazing food and wine, busting a few superstitions, and exploring the science of luck. More details here.

Unlucky for some

Today is Friday the 13th, the first of three this year. And it would seem that on Friday the 13th there really is an increased chance of being involved in an accident even though there is less traffic on the road. A study conducted in the early 1990's*, compared the number of traffic accident casualties admitted to hospital in the South West Thames region of England on Friday 13th's with the number of admissions on Friday 6th's during the same period. The researchers found that there were consistently more admissions on Friday 13th's than on Friday 6th's (a total of 65 in the period examined compared to 45, an increase of more than 50%). The difference was statistically significant.

The researchers did a similar comparison for the amount of traffic on the roads on these days (specifically certain sections of the M25 London orbital motorway). They found that there were actually a little over 1% fewer vehicles on the road on Friday 13th's compared to Friday 6th's.

If these data reflect a genuine difference between the two days, then maybe Friday the 13th really is an unlucky day! What I think it might reveal is that people's beliefs about Friday the 13th could become a rather neat example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is, a small percentage of people (around 1%) may be sufficiently superstitious about Friday the 13th being an unlucky day that they avoid driving (or at least motorway driving). Those drivers that still decide to get in their car may still be aware of the superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th and this may actually increase their fear and anxiety enough to affect their concentration while driving.

I stayed at home today.

*Scanlon, T. J., Luben, R. N., Scanlon, F. L., Singleton, N. (1993). Is Friday the 13th bad for your health? British Medical Journal, 307 (6919), 1584–1586.