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Some people seem to have all the luck. You know, those people for whom opportunities just magically appear out of thin air? They always get that callback, that big promotion just lands in their lap, AND they get the girl.
Is it just luck or is there more to it?
In this week’s episode, my guest Karla Starr and I discuss a very serious question: can you create your own luck? We talk about the subtle things that lucky people do differently, why just showing up is often the key to success, how to recognize fundamental cognitive biases and use them to your advantage, and much more.
Luck does exist. But it’s in our best interest to believe it doesn’t exist.”
Karla Starr
Karla Starr is a science writer, coach, and speaker, and the author of Can You Learn to Be Lucky? Why Some People Seem to Win More Often Than Others, which was named a Fast Company best book of the year. The recipient of a Best Health/Science award from the Society of Professional Journalists and a member of the National Association of Science Writers, she has written for publications including O, Slate, Popular Science, and The Atlantic. More recently, she appeared on CBS Sunday Morning and co-authored The Hilton Effect with Chip Heath. She is regularly invited to speak on motivation and thriving during uncertainty. A resident of New York, she spends an inordinate amount of time lifting heavy things.
The second we externalize causality and say it’s something out of our control, that’s the second we take away our personal power, take away our responsibility, and lose motivation.”
Episode Highlights
- People use luck as an explanation when they have no other explanation
- Assigning external causality things that happen takes away our power
- How optimism and confidence can “create” luck
- Why just showing up and being more social can improve your luck
- People do judge books by their covers, and how to use that to your advantage
- Half of your appearance is genetic, half of it is what you do with it
- Our luck has a direct connection to the stability of our self-esteem
- Why changing what you pay attention to can change your life
Resources Mentioned
- Can You Learn to Be Lucky? Why Some People Seem to Win More Often Than Others
- Celebrity Makeunders
- What celebrities would look like if they were ordinary people
- 100 Bad Days Makes a Hundred Bad Stories
- James Clear: Mastering Your Habits
- The Hilton Effect
