Psychologist says ‘Lucky Girl’ manifestation could improve your life – with one catch

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Ever wondered how to boost your luck and make your own fate? ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ could be the way forward and even has a scientific basis, according to psychologist Catherine Hallissey

Positive thinking and manifestation TikTok has a new mantra: “I’m so lucky and everything just works out for me”. Coined ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’, this trend is sweeping social media and promises to make your life better without even trying.

“Be delusional” says trend originator @lauragalebe in the caption of her viral TikTok, “The secret is to assume and believe it before the concrete proof shows up.”

Manifestation is not a new concept but the Lucky Girl trend has been refocused and re-branded as a mentality of simply believing you are lucky and expecting good things.

Videos have popped up all over the app with women sharing their positive or “lucky” experiences now they live by the mantra.

Another user, @skzzolno, posted a TikTok discussing the manifestation tactic that now has over 3.9 million views. In the video, Sammy K explained that she and her friend ran an experiment to see if the positive mantra would make a difference – with seemingly good results.

The pals shared how they passed all their exams and that their video went viral after this shift in mindset. Throughout the TikTok their camera falls forward and they drop food in the car but continue to laugh and say “everything just works out for us.”

Many commenters on both videos pointed out the similarities to the Law of Assumption, pioneered by Neville Goddard who was a mystic and author. This is the belief that what we assume to be true will be called into our life – in short, ‘fake it until you make it’.

Chartered psychologist Catherine Hallissey told The Mirror why this manifestation could actually work, saying: “The Lucky Girl phenomenon is an example of positivity bias. If you repeatedly affirm that you’re lucky, you’re likely to invest time and attention in confirming this viewpoint.

“You’re more likely to see neutral experiences as positive and to overestimate the luck component of your experiences while also likely to gloss over or minimise difficult experiences. This is even more likely if you’re also documenting and sharing your lucky experiences online, as is the case with the Lucky Girl phenomenon.”

Not only do you shift your mindset, Catherine also believes the trend could push women to expand their horizons. She explained: “There is also a self-fulfilling prophecy component to this where people who believe they are lucky tend to be more open to new experiences.

“They’re more likely to interact with others if they believe the outcome will be positive. This often leads to more opportunities through these connections.

“People who believe they are likely are more likely to notice and maximise chance opportunities. Not only that, people who believe they’re lucky are more likely to persist in the face of challenge and failure, enhancing the chances of a positive outcome.”

Catherine believes the Lucky Girl trend uses the psychological principle known as positivity bias, which means you “tend to pay more attention to positive events” while overlooking or de-emphasising the negative.

“In general, humans tend to judge reality favourably and assume things will work out in the end, with some people doing this to a greater extent than others,” she explained. “Deliberately adopting a positive mindset can have powerful results.”

Although manifestations are not proven to work, they can help push positive thinking and, according to Catherine, provide a sense of control. She said: “Humans have an inherent tendency to judge reality favourably. Manifestations and belief in easy fixes such as the Lucky Girl phenomenon are simply an extension of this.

“This is especially true during uncertain times such as rising cost of living, the climate crisis and political upheaval. When faced with uncertainty that is outside your control, it is natural to want to regain a semblance of control and manifestation is a way some people are doing that.”

While positive thinking should be encouraged, Catherine warns that this shouldn’t be at the complete exclusion of circumstance and emotion. “At its worst, manifestation and adopting a Lucky Girl mentality to the exclusion of all else can be harmful to mental health,” she added.

“When you believe that all you need to do to live a happy life is to believe it, you’re building your life on a shaky foundation. Worse still, if you believe that only good things will happen to you, you may be vulnerable to others taking advantage of you.

“When you believe that only good things can happen, there is a tendency to gloss over negative experiences meaning you may not allow time and space for the full range of human experience. Instead, like many things in life, balance is what is needed where we need to balance optimism with realism.

“Yes, adopting a positive mindset is beneficial while also allowing space for the full range of human experience.”

Catherine notes that there is “considerable privilege at work in suggesting that all it takes to live a life filled with luck and good fortune is to simply decide it should be that way”. She added: “No amount of magical thinking will lift millions of people out of poverty, violence and food insecurity, and to suggest otherwise is toxic positivity at its worst.”

Overall, adopting the Lucky Girl manifestation technique could be beneficial to boosting your positivity and possibly enable you to make your own luck in life. Getting into this mindset can be hard, especially if you’re predisposed to negative thought patterns so Catherine suggests writing down three things you’re grateful for each day.

She said: “Simply listing three things you’re grateful for each day can help to boost mood by training your brain to notice positive things even when life is challenging. Another great strategy is to commit to being open to new experiences as novelty can also boost feelings of happiness.

“There is ample research to demonstrate that simply listing three things you’re grateful for each day can help to boost mood by training your brain to notice positive things even when life is challenging.”

Would you try the Lucky Girl method? Let us know in the comments…