Some Gals Have All the Luck: How to Create Your Own Good Luck

You probably know a few. These gals marry the millionaire. Meet the talent agent in the drugstore. Stroll off into the Tahitian sunset with the guy who looks like Tom Cruise.

Why does the Wheel of Fortune seem to always land on the winning numbers for some and not others? Is it luck of the draw? Divine decree? Sure, your charmed galpals were in the right place at the right time. But how'd they get to the right place in the first place?

One researcher thinks he knows. He's Richard Wiseman, PhD of the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Dr. Wiseman been studying the lucky and the not-so. He discovered the lucky among us don't really think they're doing anything differently. They've just developed attitudes and habits that pay off in good fortune. His conclusion? A great deal of what you may consider 'luck' results from your own actions. In fact, good luck is a skill-set you can learn. So, start the Wheel of Fortune spinning in your direction with these four lucky attitudes:

? Expect good fortune

? Follow intutive hunches

? Turn bad luck into good

? Create chance opportunities

Dr. Wiseman set up an experiment in which 80 people went to 'luck school.' Over the course of two years, they were taught the four attitudes. When they first started, 50% considered themselves unlucky, 40% as neither, and 10% as lucky After only one month, 80% reported their luck had gotten better.

Great Expectations

? Imagine and visualize success

? Keep on keeping on when facing failure

? Attract other winners to your team

Lucky people naturally assume everything will work out well, even when events appear otherwise. It's a 'self-fulfilling prophecy.' Expect to do well, and you're more likely to strike out on new ventures. Expect to fail, and you give up even before you begin. A positive drive keeps you pumped up when you run into roadblocks.You also inspire others with your upbeat attitude, drawing other winners to you and encouraging them to support your projects.

How can you create great expectations? Paint positive pictures in your mind and feel your dreams fully, as if they were real right now. Take a test run of any upcoming important opportunity, such as an audition or exam. Find a quiet spot, close your eyes, and start to picture the event clearly and completely in your mind's eye. Visualize the sights, sounds, surroundings, and people. Feel the positive outcome by imagining your elation when you land the part or ace the exam. Feel that happy glow and how fantastic it will be to tell your family and friends about your triumph.

Dr. Weisman also recommends starting a 'luck journal.' Write down your daily lucky breaks and positive outcomes-and only those, no tales of woe, please.

LISTEN TO AND FOLLOW YOUR GUT FEELINGS

? Boost intuition by clearing mind and meditating

? Use discernment

? Listen to and act on your instincts

You've had that instant 'hit' that someone you've just met is-or isn't-to be trusted. That gut feeling you get-creepy and queasy or warm and fuzzy-is your unconscious mind speaking. Listen. You'll do well to heed the call. Lucky people do. They not only listen, they also act, instinctively attracting the right partners in personal and Business relationships, and knowing where to invest their nest egg.

Learning to listening to your intuition is easy. Sit still for a few minutes in a quiet place or calm your mind with a meditation technique. Discernment is important in the process. Do you trust your past experience to guide you? Listen carefully, then act wisely. A note to those with grandiose schemes: Going by the gut works best with people, not lottery numbers.

TURN BAD LUCK INTO GOOD - LEMONADE, ANYONE?

? "It coulda been worse"

? Don't dwell on misfortune

? Take charge of bad luck and thrive

It's called 'counterfactual thinking,' according to Dr. Wiseman. The degree to which you think something is lucky or not is the degree to which you come up with other scenarios that are better or worse. Delusional? Calling sow's ear a silk purse? Not really. It's merely learning from experience and mistakes.

You may have no control over certain chance events like accidents or illnesses, but you do have ultimate c