The Psychology of Luck: Why You're Not as Unlucky as You Think

Everyone keeps telling Neil how lucky he is — lucky to do what he loves, lucky to travel, lucky to work alongside his son. But what if "luck" is just a lazy word for the years of grind, sacrifice and uncommon decisions most people aren't willing to make? Recorded on the road in Osaka, Japan, this solo episode digs into whether luck is real at all. Neil unpacks a decade-long study by Dr Richard Wiseman at the University of Hertfordshire, which suggests lucky people aren't passive recipients of fate — they create their own fortune through identifiable, trainable traits. You'll learn the four research-backed characteristics that lucky people share — openness and flexibility, relaxed attention, trusting your intuition, and positive expectation — and how each one applies directly to building and growing your tutoring business. It's a practical, no-BS look at turning chance into opportunity. If you've ever been told you're "just lucky," this one's for you. KEY TAKEAWAYS Reframe "luck" as the by-product of doing difficult, uncommon things — the risks, the work and the sacrifice that others simply aren't willing to take on. Cultivate openness and flexibility: staying open to new experiences widens your "catchment area" for opportunity, which links directly to entrepreneurial risk tolerance. Adopt relaxed attention rather than constant worry — anxiety and rigid focus cause you to miss the opportunities and patterns hiding in plain sight. Train your intuition through practices like journaling and meditation, then trust your gut when making career and relationship decisions. Hold positive expectations for the future, because your brain sorts for what you expect — making optimism a self-fulfilling prophecy and a non-negotiable for success. QUOTES "It's not lucky if you get what you want, if you go where you want, and you're with whom you want." "Balance to me just means average, means mediocre. And I wouldn't be settling for that." "Lazy is a shortcut word. It's a placeholder that allows shallow minds to bypass the process of how success and mastery is actually built." "They didn't see the years of grind and sweat and sacrifice that gets you to a position where people think that you're lucky." "You always get what you expect because it's what you're looking for and it's what your brain sorts for." VALUABLE RESOURCES info@neilcowmeadow.com HOST BIO Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media.⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

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The Psychology of Luck: Why You're Not as Unlucky as You Think is an episode from The Tutor Podcast by Neil Cowmeadow .

This episode is 13:56 long.

This episode was published on Jun 4, 2026.

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