Is there such a thing a being born lucky, or born under a lucky star? There certainly are people who seem to be lucky, just as there are people who appear to have much more than their fair share of bad luck.

Dr Richard Wiseman, head of psychology research at an English university, spent 8 years studying hundreds of people who considered themselves either especially lucky or unlucky. He conducted many interviews and experiments, personality and IQ tests and other research.

In one test, he asked participants to count the number of photographs in a specially prepared newspaper. The people who considered themselves to be unlucky completed this exercise much quicker than the people who considered themselves lucky. The reason for this was that after a couple of pages there was a half page ad that said 'Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper' and later in the newspaper there was another half page ad saying 'STOP COUNTING! TELL THE EXPERIMENTOR YOU'VE SEEN THIS AND WIN £150'. The lucky people stopped and read both ads and many asked if they should continue, or for the money, but the unlucky people tended to completely miss or ignore the ads and concentrated on the original task of counting the photos.

It seemed that the people who considered themselves unlucky tended to stick to one thing and not allow distractions, even if there could be opportunities to their benefit. Wiseman's research also showed that the unlucky people tended to be more anxious and tense, which can affect the ability to notice opportunities.

Wiseman also found that the lucky people tended to follow their instincts, hunches and gut feelings, whereas the unlucky people tended to rely on logic and rationale. The unlucky people also tended to be creatures of habit with little room for spontaneity in their lives. The lucky people tended to enjoy and actively seek more variety in their lives. Perhaps most importantly of all, the lucky people were optimists, they expected the best to happen and always looked for the best in any situation, whereas the unlucky people did just the opposite, often being able to find negatives in even the best situation.

Wiseman concluded that luck is much more than just coincidence. Rather, it is a manifestation of your attitude, beliefs, expectations and interaction with the world.

We all tend to act in a certain manner that is in line with our expectations. Our subconscious mind moves us in that direction and in the path of events that fulfil our expectations. We also tend to behave in a manner that is likely to bring our expectations to fruition.

For example, we've probably all worked with someone who managed to get promoted incredibly quickly, who some co workers considered to be just lucky. However, it's more likely that this person truly believed they would be promoted, and as a result worked very hard, exuded the attitude and gave out the signals of someone worthy of promotion, hence attracting the attention of their superiors.

What about lucky streaks in sport? Say you had two basketball players, one who averaged scoring with 60% of his shots, and one who averaged scoring with 30% of his shots. Which of those players do you think is more likely to have what is known as a lucky streak? Obviously it's more likely to be the players with the 60% average, and if so, is that just luck? Or is it that he either had more natural talent in the first place, or that he believed in himself and worked extremely hard to develop his skills to achieve such a good average?

Some people believe that they are born lucky and if so, that's great. But it's not great if you believe you've been born unlucky. The reality is that they're probably both right... and wrong. It may be possible to be born lucky or unlucky but it's nowhere near as important as what you believe. If you believe you're unlucky you're bound to have an aura and attitude that ensures you'll attract what you expect. But the opposite is also true - with positive expectation, optimism and belief you can be as lucky as anyone. What would you rather experience in your life? So, are you feeling lucky? It really is all about attitude and belief and it's your choice

'I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.' - Thomas Jefferson