Go Luck Yourself! Session 2

Those two weeks went pretty quickly didn't they? If you are now finding you are embracing the role that luck (or 'luck' if you are a bit of purist) plays in your life then I think you are ready to jump into Session 2, the focus of which is the 'good luck mindset'. As you'll discover, part (a) introduces the idea of the good luck mindset and explores the importance of gratitude, and part (b) extends this to look at how an optimistic outlook might be cultivated. Combined, they form the basis of what I'm calling here a 'good luck mindset'.

If you're still having a hard time appreciating the role that luck, in terms of unplanned events, chance encounters, and so on plays in your life then by all means spend a little longer with this and even watch Session 1 again. Similarly, if you have found your way here through some way other than having watched Session 1, then please take a look here first.




Take a moment note just three things (or more if you want to!) that you are grateful for, before moving on to watch part b:


So, what do you think? Will you give it a try? Would you see if and how adopting a 'good luck mindset' over the coming weeks has any impact on your experiences of 'luck'? Please use the comments section to tell me how you get on!

Session 3, where we look at some important ideas linked with noticing and creating opportunities (central to that age-old idea of "making your own luck"!), will be posted in two weeks on Wednesday 11th November 2015. Follow the blog to get an alert by email when the session 3 post goes live.

Go Luck Yourself! Session 1

Welcome to the Go Luck Yourself! project...

For a little more background to the project, click here. If you have already done that, or you just want to jump straight in, then by all means click on Session 1a (Overview) to get started and then Session 1b and 1c to hear more about 'embracing luck'. Enjoy!

So that, my friends, is session 1... Exciting stuff eh? Please take some time to reflect on the role of 'luck', or unplanned events, in your life to date. In the weeks to come, make a point of noticing how so many events, some seemingly quite trivial, and some more obviously significant, are down to 'luck' in the way we describe it here. And feel free to leave a comment on the blog telling me what you notice! Remember, you can get in touch to ask for a hard copy 'Luck Journal' if you would like one, or just keep your own in a handy notebook. (In the clips, you may hear me referring to an online version on 'Blackboard'... this was something we only used the first time the project ran.)

Session 2, exploring the 'good-luck mindset' will be posted on Wednesday 28th October 2015. Follow the blog to get an alert by email when the session 2 post goes live.

Introducing the Go Luck Yourself! project

A cursory browse through the archives of the blog would reveal more than a passing interest here in the concept of luck. To be more precise, my interest is in the psychology of luck. That is, how we tend to think about luck and how this impacts upon how we deal with those kinds of experiences we typically attribute to luck. With this in mind, last year I put together a little research project to explore how ideas drawn from positive psychology might impact upon people's experiences of 'luck'. The project consisted of six sessions, under the title of 'Go Luck Yourself!'*, and was very much inspired by Richard Wiseman's 'Luck School' as described in his book 'The Luck Factor' (which I've written about in a post some time back).

The project ran over 12 weeks, with a fortnightly session running on a Wednesday lunchtime on the campus of Bucks New University (where I work) and posted online later the same day. The reason I'm telling you all this is because I'm going to post these recordings, and associated materials, on this blog over the coming weeks in the hope that a few more people may access them and perhaps even contribute data. [Update (Dec 2015): All six sessions are now on the blog, and are designed to be viewed fortnightly. Feel free to work through all six sessions as quickly, or as slowly, as you wish!]

You will hear me talk about something that is excitingly referred to as a 'Luck Journal' (it is a book with the words 'Luck Journal' on the front...). I have a small number of these if you would like a hard-copy journal to write in. You can either email me your address at matthew.smith@bucks.ac.uk or leave a comment on the blog to tell me where you would like me to post it to.

You can access the first session materials here.

*I am indebted to Scott Cornwall for the project name. A couple of years ago, he suggested I should write a book called Go Luck Yourself!, or Luck Off!, or For Luck's Sake!, etc. You get the idea. The GLY! suggestion is the one that stuck as it really captured the idea behind this project... What things can you do to influence your own luck. Thank you Scott, I am indebted to you (though let me abolutely clear that this is in a metaphorical sense, not a financial one).