Before You Lament Your Lack of Luck: Between Probability and Illusion

"Honestly, I'm just so unlucky."

Many people have likely uttered these words at some point.
When failing at work, when a relationship doesn't go well, or when rejected after an interview, people tend to entrust responsibility to an invisible force called "luck." And there is a certain ring of "absolution" in that word.
It's saying, "It's not that I'm no good; it's just that I was unlucky."

But is it really "luck"?

The human brain is extremely vulnerable to uncertainty.
We have a habit of trying to find meaning in results.
For example, if we lose the lottery, we think, "I'm not having a good year," and if the person sitting next to us by chance turns out to be a future lover, we call it "destiny." However, these are all just "hindsight bias"; before they happened, they were all equally just matters of probability.

In other words, "being unlucky" is nothing more than a rephrasing of the emotion that "the result I wanted did not occur." Even though probability, timing, environment, ability, and preparation are all intricately intertwined, we push the responsibility solely onto "chance."

But in reality, "bad luck" is also a lack of preparation.

Professional baseball player Ichiro once said in an interview:
"Luck only visits those who have prepared for it."
This applies not only to athletes but to every aspect of business and life. When a chance arrives, whether it becomes "luck" or "ability" is determined by how you spent your time before that moment.

For example, suppose you suddenly get a chance to give a presentation at work. At that time, someone who has been working hard on their materials and speaking skills might be called "lucky." But is this really luck?
From the person's perspective, it is merely the result of having prepared for a "future that might come".

That is why, when you feel "unlucky," the first thing you should do is take stock of your preparation status. Even if you prepare perfectly, there are times when the results don't follow. Still, the "sense of satisfaction" is completely different between someone who can say, "I did everything I could," and someone who says, "Well, I thought it would somehow work out."

And another thing often overlooked regarding luck is the "bias in choices."

In interviews with successful people, stories like "It started because of someone I happened to meet..." often come up. But such coincidences only happen because, in the first place, they were meeting many people. Since the "number of encounters" differs between someone who only commutes between home and work and someone who goes out to study groups and events, there is naturally a difference in "luck with encounters."

In short, "lucky people" are those who take risks and increase the number of coincidences.

This is not about the self-responsibility theory of successful people, nor is it a cult of effort. It is simply a perspective to avoid overestimating the concept of "luck." Differences in "luck"—such as the environment one is born into, genetic factors, and disparities in social structure—certainly exist. But beyond that, ways to increase coincidences that you can act on in this very moment do indeed exist.

It is easy to think, "I have no luck."
But if you stop your thinking there, those words become a curse that binds you. It is better to ask, "Am I in a state where I can respond even if luck comes my way?" as that expands the possibilities for the future.

Lamenting one's luck is a natural flow of emotion.
But when we can tame it, reconstruct it, and turn it into the power to move forward, we might just be able to pull "destiny" a little bit closer into our own hands.