Richard Wiseman of the university of Hertfordshire, in England, has studied luck and found that "lucky people" share traits that tend to make them luckier then others. First, lucky people take advantage of chance occurrences that come their way. Instead of going through life on cruise control, they pay attention to what's happening around them and therefore, are able to extract greater value from each situation. They're more likely to pay attention to an announcement to an special event in their community, to notice a new person in their neighborhood, or even to see that a colleague is in need for extra help. Lucky people are also open to novel opportunities and willing to try things outside of their usual experience. They're more inclined to pick up a book on an unfamiliar subject, to travel to less familiar destinations.
No surprisingly, lucky people tend to be extroverted. They make more eye contact and smile more frequently, leading to more positive and extended encounters. These actions in turn open the door to more opportunities. Lucky people also tend to be optimistic and to expect good thing to happen to them. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because even when things don't go as expected lucky people find ways to extract positive outcomes from the worst situations. Their attitude affects those around them, and help to turn negative situations into positive expriences.