The Thirteen Laws of Good Luck

Luck is learnable

Eliphas Levi’s 1850 rendering of the Wheel of Fortune from Tarot Heritage.

Harbingers of “good luck” have always fascinated me. I regard charms and superstitions seriously, if a bit playfully. As I see it, superstitions keep us humble in a strange world where we experience delusions of control.

Yet luck is not, in my view, entirely random. What we term happy accident, serendipity, or good (and bad) fortune often results from a network of causative factors, which are identifiable and cultivable.

As put in the 1908 occult classic The Kybalion: “Chance is merely a term indicating cause existing but not recognized or perceived.” This relates to chaos theory—in which a particulate or exotic element traceably alters the whole—although the word complexity might be substituted for chance.

In any event, nothing lasting occurs in a vacuum, at least in human affairs. Chance favors those who attempt impeccability. Hence, I prescribe thirteen behavioral rules for fostering luck:

1. Luck is learnable.

2. Good chemistry is lucky.

3. To be lucky you must be noticed.

4. Prepared minds win.

5. Sobriety is lucky.

6. Persistence beats odds. (This does not apply to gambling.)

7. Failure can be lucky.

8. No is not always final.

9. Enthusiasm and pessimism form a fortuitous combination.

10. Humiliating people brings bad luck.

11. Recognizing others improves luck.

12. You must help “fate” find you.

13. Lucky people are decisive.

We now explore each:

1. Luck Is Learnable

A neurosurgeon at the University of Arizona College of Medicine told me never to take notions of luck lightly: “I’ve seen many patients live or die on an operating table based on what we call luck.”

He once canceled a scheduled surgery when a crow landed on the road before his car. Does that sound foolish? Not in his world where hair’s-­width odds divide life from death.

We have difficulty saying what luck really is. Good or bad luck, most would agree, is accidental. Yet barring extreme exceptions, is anything truly accidental when cause-and-­effect are detectable behind every event, even if only afterwards?

Obviously, no one can control myriad and vast factors behind every occurrence. Yet I have observed certain practices and habits that regularly improve good luck or, put differently, sway circumstance. This is true even when the recipient is unaware of what is occurring.

A famous actor told my friend his key to success: “Determine the things that make you lucky and then do more of them.” Implicit in his statement is belief that identifiable actions, habits, relationships, and environments are, by nature, lucky.

Talent, intellect, persistence, and social factors matter; but pivotal events in people’s lives, and sometimes the entire arc of their adulthoods, result from practice or neglect of the principles considered here. If followed, these practices place motivated people into the current of destiny or flow of good luck. Remember: magick finds the impeccable.

2. Cultivate Chemistry

The company you select plays a tremendous part not only in the values you live by but also in the opportunities you experience.

Never take for granted the powers of relationship and collaboration. Things we attribute to talent alone are, in reality, due to the intangible but vital chemistry that arises from complementary efforts, well-­balanced weaknesses and strengths, personal affinities, and shared visions / aesthetics. It also arises from working in the profit center of a particular business.

Good chemistry is good luck. Scan your life for it. When you find or already have it, value and maintain it. Mick Jagger never recorded a successful solo album. Neither did Joe Strummer. Consider that.

If good chemistry sours do not fear letting it go. But do so only after careful observation. An old colleague with whom I enjoyed years of collaboration published several of my books; he refused to do a small editorial favor for me while I was on the road. I realized our run of luck had ended.

3. Get Noticed

You cannot profit from opportunities unless other people, including those of influence, know who you are and what you are doing.

This does not mean becoming a slave to social media or a tiresome self-­promoter. (Although I must note that a not-­insignificant number of self-­promoters do meet with success.) Rather, you must honestly and plainly make clear to others your actions and enthusiasms.

A friend employed in audio publishing once told me she was not getting noticed on the job. She realized that she had been concealing her enthusiasm and dedication. This may have arisen from bad advice she received years earlier. As she told it:

I don’t know why I haven’t been sharing my passion at work. It may be because a manager once told me that the way to get ahead in corporate publishing is to “keep your head down.” At the time, I thought that was good, practical advice. It was not. It was a formula for mediocrity. And, most importantly, it is not me.

My friend’s realization was right. Keeping your head down is feckless and self-­ defeating. And it is poor ethics: people who keep their heads down never learn; they rarely take responsibility; and they make others carry the load for them. That is not the success (or paycheck) I want.

Getting noticed and taking responsibility are more likely, in the long run, to place you in the stream of recognition and good luck. If you step up to responsibility there may be times when you are saddled with blame. And there may be occasions where blame is unfairly pinned on you. But even this can serve to remind you of a lucky practice: taking proper credit when it is given. I once sat in a meeting where a publicist was complimented for scoring an important media hit. “I didn’t really do anything . . . ,” he began. The company’s president turned to him and whispered: “Take credit. You’ll get blame when you don’t deserve it, too.”

4. Prepared Minds Win

In 1854, pioneering scientist and germ theorist Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) said in a lecture at the University of Lille in Northern France: “In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.”

Preparation heightens all fortuitous chance-­factors around you; it ensures that you will be in the proper mental state to notice, receive, and benefit from opportunities.

You should know and be reasonably versed in every aspect of your field, even as you focus on a niche or specialty within it. Be aware of current technology and developments. Above all, be an absolute expert within your area of focus. Practice your craft like a martial artist repeatedly runs a routine to the point where it becomes part of his or her innate self.

Motivational writer Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) began his career as a teacher of public speaking. A former actor, Carnegie grasped that public speaking was a vital skill for business success in the years following World War I. When preparing for a talk or pitch, Carnegie observed that you should amass so much material that you discard ninety percent of it when speaking. The very fact of your preparation gives you the confidence and power to speak without notes and to deliver a relaxed, enthusiastic, and freestyle performance.

Carnegie’s formula is a recipe for good outcomes in all areas of life. Ardent preparation makes you persuasive. Your actions are natural and effortless. You can pivot. You gain childlike exuberance. And, as Pasteur alluded, things have a way of reaching you that would otherwise go undetected.

5. Sobriety Is Lucky

A New York City prosecutor once told me: “If you want to avoid violence, keep away from places where large amounts of alcohol are served.”

He saw repeat connection between booze and accidents or violence. A majority of cases that crossed his desk, he said, occurred at clubs, sporting events, picnics, or parties where lots of alcohol was consumed.

I enjoy booze and weed and I am far from puritanical on this question. Very far. But it is self-­evident that either going clean or taking an extended break improves productivity, dependability, safety, and earning power.

Sometimes the simplest and most impactful thing that you can do to heighten your abilities and avail yourself of opportunities is to get sober, even if for a fixed time. The best part: it is among the few life choices completely in your hands.

6. Persistence Beats Odds

The Wheel of Fortune as depicted in Tarot—and seen atop this article—captures an important principle about the fundamentally cyclical nature of experience. The ever-rotating wheel of life is, of course, an archetypal theme in the Western and Eastern mind. In essence, all things—nature, the cosmos, human existence—abide a law of cycles, which dictates that events within and without you change, flow, and repeat like seasons, tides, or the revolving of planetary bodies.

This whispers truth about work, ambition, and effort. The revolutions of the Wheel of Fortune tell you to purposefully remain in your place. If you are earnestly and diligently working, training, drilling, rehearsing, preparing, and doing your labor, the Wheel of Fortune dictates that, eventually and inevitably, the cyclical law of rise and fall will reach you where you stand. In time, this law will lift your fortunes in their desired direction.

Also lawful are reversals. Any gambler or statistician can tell you about “runs of luck.” Runs lawfully reverse. So be careful. The flipping of a two-sided object must eventually even out, for good or ill, depending upon your perspective.

Hardworking people sometimes complain that their schools or workplaces are not meritocracies; that life just isn’t fair. And they are right—to a point. I have personally witnessed feckless or mediocre people survive or even thrive in competitive environments. But this occurs only if they manage to stick around long enough (e.g., they may benefit from an indulgent boss, compensatory coworkers, or plain accident). The law of cycles, or Wheel of Fortune, passively favors them.

It is a peculiar feature of life, and particularly of career, that failures are often forgotten while successes linger. In terms of perception, one success mitigates a lot of failure. This is because people sense, without fully grasping why, that success will strike again (as will failure). They want to be present when it does. This gives you a hint of how to ride the law of cycles.

Consider: if a mediocre person, by just hanging around, experiences success at unexpected (though lawfully apportioned) hours, imagine how much greater a success you can experience if you persevere as a figure of excellence. The prepared and driven person is better primed to reap the fruits of lawful upturn.

It behooves you to stick with things. Or at least those for which you are well suited and personally enjoy. The Wheel of Fortune inevitably turns your way. Your gains—especially as a prepared person—outweigh what you lose when the opposite occurs.

7. Failure Is Lucky

This is not some treacly sentiment. I can identify numerous times when a seeming failure proved lucky for either one of two reasons:

A) It protected me from a job, relationship, or course of action for which I was unsuited or which would have placed me in an environment on the precipice of bad luck. I twice lost job bids and felt hurt—but the outcomes proved personally fortunate. One was at a once-­hot political magazine George, whose celebrity editor—and a hugely nice person—John F. Kennedy, Jr., died in a 1999 airplane crash, plunging the monthly into disorder and failure. (John had personally offered me the job but colleagues foot dragged.) Another time was to head a publishing house that had recently been acquired by an inexperienced buyer who gutted and nearly wrecked the place.

B) Other times failure or setback lit a fire within me by highlighting my weaknesses and missteps, which drove me to more intelligent striving and long-­ term realization of cherished aims. This is similar to events in the sci-­fi classic (and I think the best science-fiction movie ever made), The Matrix, in the which the Oracle tells Neo that he is not “the One.” He is—but must hone his mettle and demonstrate his selflessness to reach that point.

Too much success, too soon, often proves self-­destructive. I witnessed a talented author get catapulted to sudden notability. Perhaps unprepared, flawed in some deeper way, or both, his success made him insufferable to nearly everyone around him; he took advantage of his status; disrespected people and commitments; and soon grew sufficiently self-­satisfied so that his work suffered. Struggle served him better than arrival.

Peaking at a young age, which is a different kind of success, can also prove disadvantageous. In addition to issues of emotional preparation, this is because your run of luck arrives early, almost inevitably reverses, and you spend years ahead trying to regain past glories. At one point in my publishing career, I noticed that nearly every writer I worked with who produced books of depth and posterity was already in middle age. They worked all the harder—and extended their runs of luck—because they never took success for granted.

I did not publish my first book, Occult America, until age forty-­three in 2009. Last month, my first royalty payment arrived. Play the long game.

8. ‘No’ Is Not Always Final

An enterprising publisher I admire was trying to reach a colleague to get together. But the other party ignored him or put him off. Finally, they did meet—and connected well. My friend asked his formerly ­hesitant companion why he had resisted seeing him.

“Well,” the other man said, “you’re someone who has a reputation of not taking no for an answer.” In other words, he considered my friend pushy and was unsure he wanted to form a bond. My friend responded pensively: “You’re right. I don’t take no for an answer. But it’s because conditions can change and then the answer changes.” Always remember: conditions can change and then the answer changes.

This does not mean being a pest or badgering people—much less sticking around people who do not appreciate or get you, which is distinctly unlucky. (I explore that here.) Rather, it means keeping open lines of communication and maintaining sound relationships so you can reapproach someone.

Essayist Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) wrote in his “Credo” in 1912: “I believe that when I part with you I must do it in such a way that when you see me again you will be glad—and so will I.”

Conditions in business and other facets of life change or reverse constantly. If you retain ability to reconnect with people, and presence of mind to do it, you can benefit from those changes. A music-­industry executive (who later became a profcessional poker player) once told me: “Be a pest, but be a nice pest.”

I know a successful movie producer who has a talent for not taking no. He is unerringly friendly to nearly everyone. He offends no one and knows when to back off—temporarily. Hence, he is always ready to revisit plans, pitches, and opportunities.

When conditions shift in your favor, and someone replaces a no with a yes, accept your good luck gladly—and never bring up his or her previous refusals.

9. Never Conflate Enthusiasm with Optimism

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) famously wrote in his 1841 essay “Circles”: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Absent enthusiasm, every task is menial. But never confuse enthusiasm with blind optimism. Indeed, enthusiasm coupled with watchful wariness forms a potent combination.

I know a lucky minority of people who continually check and recheck their work. They do so well past the point where another person would stop. When unexpected glitches occur—and they always occur—they catch them before harm is done.

You will never regret honoring that creeping feeling that something may be off. Assuming the worst and rechecking or resaving your work will, at one time or another, rescue an important assignment, presentation, legal matter, or exam.

Whenever anyone tells me that a job or assignment is a “no brainer”—or if I catch myself saying that—I know trouble is coming. Mistakes and catestrophes often occur because someone is persauded he is doing something easy. Luck favors the pessimistic enthusiast.

10. Humiliate No One

When you insult or disrespect someone you will forget it a lot sooner than he or she will. In fact, when you really humiliate someone—in a meeting, on social media, or at an event—that person literally never forgets. Emotions form memories.

And human nature holds that most people will, at an unexpected moment, strike back if given the opportunity. Life contains hidden tendrils of connection.

The same holds true for ostensive private emails, DMs, or texts. Rid yourself of the notion that anything is truly private. Confidential communications are shared all the time. And all of us have had—or will have—the experience of mistakenly hitting “reply all,” or copying the wrong party, maybe even the party being discussed.

I know at least three people whose jobs were lost due to such innocent errors. Before you hit send, ask yourself if you have written anything that would embarrass or harm you if it got read in public. A boss once told her staff never to include anything in an email that they would not want read aloud in a courtroom while seated on the witness stand.

When posting on social media, the temptation to be snarky and sarcastic abounds. Distance or anonymity are disinhibiting. Always remember that online comments are forever. Anonymity may afford some protection but I have my doubts. And, believe me, when you insult someone online that person remembers it—always. The injured party may circle back at an unexpected moment.

An entrepreneur once told me, “When you have the opportunity to be a smartass—don’t.” It could save your job and peace of mind. There are other good reasons too, such as invisible shame and damage to self-­respect.

11. Recognize Others

Rather than merely avoiding offense, you should actively buildup people—sincerely and when properly due. Get in the habit of thanking people and recognizing their contribution to a project. Do so in cold, hard cash when occasion calls for it.

Saying thank you is not just a matter of courtesy and ethics, although it is both. By recognizing other people, privately and publicly, you allow them to feel that they benefit from your success and you give them a stake in its continuance.

In 1896, philosopher William James (1842–1910) wrote in a letter to students: “The deepest principle of Human Nature is the craving to be appreciated.” People hunger to be seen. Never underestimate the power of simple recognition.

The opposite is also true. If you fail to recognize people, they won’t necessarily hinder your work but they will feel apathy (if not antipathy) toward your needs. I have been thanked innumerable times and truly appreciated it. But, in full disclosure, I more keenly recall when I have not been appropriately thanked. It is a fissure of human nature that we are more likely to recall expectations unfulfilled than fulfilled. It might involve some primal need for safety.

In any case, it should always be remembered that “invisible helpers” appear based on whether we have thanked and recognized them. Recognizing people is homage to the gods of luck.

In matters of money, you can and should additionally remunerate valued people. But even if you cannot, or have reasons for not doing so, you can accrue similar benefit by paying them quickly. I cannot fully emphasize the goodwill engendered when you pay a contractor, employee, freelancer, or helper quickly—preferably upon completion of a task. That is how you pay a barber or stylist. Why not a freelancer? Quick pay often means as much or more than the fee itself.

I know a publisher who pays people by electronic transfer twenty-four to forty-eight hours after delivery of a project. Recent to this writing, an artist for whom I wrote a catalogue essay kept me plugged into the payment process, not forcing me to chase the money but alerting me about when his contract was arriving and the funds could be distributed. These kinds of practices breed tremendous loyalty. They are also good ethics. The dividends are invaluable.

12. Help ‘Fate’ Find You, or Show Up

Are you reliable? A large part of what makes someone reliable is the simple but vital act of showing up and doing so on time. You have no idea how fully other people notice and judge you by this.

In today’s culture, people back out of commitments, whether family, social, or work-­ related for nearly any reason. The need to run an errand is not a sufficient excuse. Busyness is not a sufficient excuse (at least not usually). Nor is feeling a bit under the weather. We as a culture are, I believe, too self-­coddling. We deem things urgent that are merely passing. As philosopher Jacob Needleman (1934–2022) told me: “The only real emergency is a medical emergency.”

One night I was speaking with a group of successful news photographers. These were people who had distinguished themselves in the hard-­knuckled and rapidly paced world of photojournalism. Many of them knew each other from when they were younger and working as interns at Time magazine in New York.

As the night went on, they started trading “war stories.” To laughter all around, one recounted when he was tasked with transporting important film from news coverage across town. (These were the early digital days.) On the way he got into a car accident, which was not grave but was serious enough so that an ambulance was called and paramedics removed him from his car. Asked how he was feeling, he told them haltingly that he needed to get this film across town.

The group of photojournalists laughed at what seemed an absurd mismatch of priorities. The speaker himself was good-­natured about it and, since no one was hurt, it was the kind of story that one could look back on and laugh.

But consider how few people demonstrate that quality of dedication. (As it happens, the film did arrive by deadline.) Certainly, you could say that he went too far or displayed unhealthy one-sidedness. But is that really so? Wouldn’t you want your surgeon, nurse, pilot, or caregiver to demonstrate that kind of dedication? His example highlights the character of those who distinguish themselves. Every photographer who sat in on our discussion had a similar attitude or story.

13. Act Quickly

“Time dissipates energy,” a successful literary agent once told me. When presented with a good chance—act on it. Slowness dampens or negates opportunities.

Quick and decisive action should not be confused with impulsiveness. If you are following the rules here you will not fall victim to blind impulse. You will have sufficient information about yourself and your surroundings so that you can intelligently and quickly act when the Wheel of Fortune stops where you are standing.

Intuition arises, at least partly, from amassing and storing a huge amount of information, so that when opportunity beckons the prepared person has “data banks” on which to rely.

Jacob Needleman once asked me: “What do you do when someone offers you a gift?” I looked at him blankly. “You accept it!” he replied. When something good comes your way—an offer, a job, a collaboration—never dither.

If it is the wrong opportunity, handle it with quick and courteous refusal. The unluckiest thing you can do is demonstrate half-heartedness, delay, or silence. No worthy employer or colleague respects that. He or she wants to know that your dedication matches their own. When chance arrives, act.

* * *

In sum, I offer Thirteen Aphorisms of Good Luck:

1. Good luck is not happy accident. It is more often a roster of habits and techniques cultivated to maximize desirable events.

2. Watch for fruitful collaborations. Valuable chemistry is irreplaceable. In areas of your life where it already exists, honor, cultivate, and maintain it. Good chemistry is at the root of good luck. The reverse is also true.

3. Luck reaches those who are seen. Act with dignity but ensure that people are aware of your work, passions, and contributions.

4. Luck favors the prepared mind. You can seize chances only when you detect them. The practiced eye notices things no one else does.

5. The decision to quit drinking and drugs—even if for a fixed time—is one of the most powerful you can make. Sobriety increases effectiveness, output, and opportunities. It is one of the few decisions wholly in your hands.

6. Runs of luck always reverse. A fertile period replaces a fallow one. And back again. In workplaces, successes are often remembered more than failures. Hence, persistence beats odds. (This is not true in games of chance.)

7. Failure or setback may rescue you from contact with the wrong people and circumstances. It can also stoke your urge toward self-­refinement.

8. “Conditions can change and then the answer changes.” Watch for chances to revisit missed possibilities—and keep your relational ledger clean so that you can revisit them.

9. Never confuse enthusiasm with optimism. Check and recheck your work. Mishaps will be averted. Entire projects are saved by pessimistic enthusiasm.

10. Any time you humiliate someone you lay a hidden timebomb. People rarely forget and sometimes avenge humiliations. (Plus, no one likes a dick.)

11. Thanking and recognizing people—publicly, privately, and, when appropriate, financially—grants them a shared stake in your success. They may assist you at subtle and important moments. Neglecting this invites others to feel apathy (if not antipathy) toward your efforts.

12. Luck shines only upon those it can reach. Show up. Keep commitments. Be in the flow of life.

13. Opportunities dissipate. When they arrive, act quickly and decisively. If you are prepared, this is not impulsivity. Decisiveness is lucky.