Lucky Girl Syndrome

If you are still addicted to TikTok, or even if you decided to delete TikTok only to end up wasting too much time scrolling through Instagram reels instead, then I imagine that you would have at least once stumbled across the term ‘Lucky girl syndrome.’ You may have also heard people taking about manifestation, and depending on your personality, you may have dismissed it as a load of rubbish, or on the other hand, you might now be embracing this as part of your lifestyle. Yes, the two concepts certainly link together. Therefore, should we simply dismiss the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’ as a load of crap, should we instead use it as an important tool that helps us, or is it a concept that is somewhat helpful providing that we remain vigilant.

What is ‘Lucky Girl syndrome?‘

The ‘Lucky girl syndrome’ refers to a technique where people tell themselves that they are lucky, which leads to good things happening to them. If you accidentally stumbled across this on TikTok a couple of months ago, you would have probably noticed a lot of videos featuring conventionally attractive young women, stating that they adopted the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’, and now so many good things have happened to them. These good things might have included things like their crush texting them back or them getting a new job. The person might even have a bigger story to tell. For instance, they might have found themselves bankrupt a year ago, but ever since they adopted the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’ good things simply kept on happening to them. Consequently, a year later they are on a 100 grand salary, they live in a mansion, and they drive some sort of fancy car. In contrast, when I search the term now, a lot of the videos provide guidance on how to adopt the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’, often focusing on the importance of adopting positive affirmations to ‘raise your vibrations.’ The ‘Lucky girl syndrome’ became popular at the start of this year and encourages people to focus on adopting ‘positive affirmations’, which basically enable people to adopt a more positive mindset, and therefore reduce negative thinking. Anyway, here is a popular TikTok on the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’.

The Law of assumption

The Law of assumption asserts that if you believe that your dreams and desires for the future are already yours, then these will come true. The method behind the law of assumption is to imagine what you would think and feel if you were attaining your dreams, whilst also releasing your current, negative thoughts and feelings, which are holding you back. This relates to manifestation.

Positive Affirmations

A lot of you might be familiar with the concept of affirmations. However, in case you are uncertain, most generally they relate to telling yourself good things, often about yourself, to reduce negative thinking. These can be used for a broad range of purposes, however, often they are used by people to build higher self-esteem. There are a range of ways that people can practice positive affirmations, for instance, some might choose to simply repeat the same affirmations to themselves each day, and others might choose to write these down in a journal. There is also evidence to suggest that practicing positive affirmations can work. Click here if you would like to learn more about this. [Link to learn more about this](https://positivepsychology.com/daily-affirmations/)

How this all links?

Just a reminder, to get a case of the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’, you would need to keep telling yourself that you are lucky, to enable good things to happen to you. This way, it clearly links to the law of assumption. This of course involves practicing some affirmations; however, I would say that these affirmations are generally slightly different to the ones that are there merely to improve your self-esteem. However, the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’ often also incorporates the practice of positive self-talk, as well as merely the art of telling yourself that good things are going to happen to you. In fact, the two often go together.

Does any of this work?

Whilst it is easy to come across something like this and instantly dismiss it as a load of bulls*it, firstly I would like to talk about ways in which it could be helpful. So according to research, if we keep telling ourselves that we are ‘lucky’, our brains start to focus on information that confirms this belief. This links to confirmation bias, where if we were to begin focusing on the number of red cars, for instance, it is likely that we would end up noticing more red cars. This can be helpful if someone is nervous about starting a new job, because if someone was to tell themselves that they are going to do well, they are likely to attain greater success in eradicating negative beliefs which could be holding them back. It is also stated that it is good for people to surround themselves with positive people, to encourage the person to adopt their positive thoughts and beliefs. Overall, this kind of practice can be especially good for people who struggle with negative self-talk, simply because it trains the brain to focus on more positive thoughts about themselves instead. And there is research in cognitive therapy to back this up. Finally, if someone believes that they are lucky, they may be more likely to take risks that benefit them in the future.

Important Criticisms

Despite the ways in which the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’ might be beneficial, as you can guess, there are a lot of ways in which it has been criticised. An important criticism is that it can spread the belief that those who are having negative experiences in life are to blame because they are not thinking positively enough. And whilst there is evidence to suggest that adopting a more positive mindset can lead to positive changes, there are of course many events and circumstances which are either very difficult, or even impossible to control. This could shift the focus away from tackling injustices, and instead put a stronger emphasise on the individual. This can be extremely dangerous, because it could mean that more people will be focusing on the importance of positive thinking, therefore if someone was in a worse economic situation than themselves, they could simply believe that they are ‘not putting the work in’. Never mind the fact that we are experiencing high inflation, a housing crisis and that employers can treat their workers like trash. Moreover, this could also make it more likely for the individual in poorer circumstances to blame themselves. Furthermore, if someone experiencing a mental illness tried to adopt the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’, they might only end up feeling worse about themselves. Another issue with ‘Lucky girl syndrome’ is that it could lead people to choose to take too many risks, including financial risks. This could of course lead people to ending up in a worse situation than they were in before, which could lead to a lot of self-blame. Finally, if something didn’t turn out as expected, it could lead people feeling guilty, thinking that their bad luck was because of themselves, rather than wider circumstances that were beyond their control.

My take on this

As I was writing this post, one question that popped into my mind was to what extent are your circumstances because of your own efforts, and to what extent are they beyond your control. Of course, this is impossible to answer, but it does depend on the person and their circumstances. But I must admit that videos of young, hot women driving Ferraris, all claiming that they are rich because they adopted the ‘Lucky girl syndrome’ are not only rather far-fetched but could actually be quite dangerous. This is because however hard most people work; they are not going to end up driving a Ferrari or living in a mansion. Instead, unfortunately there are many people who are having to work multiple jobs simply to make ends meet. And that is because of broader political and economic circumstances which are beyond any individual’s control. Therefore, I think that it is essential that people understand that there are many things that are simply beyond their control. This said, I do think that there might be some aspects of one’s life that someone can control, especially if they believe in themselves and that they work toward attaining the goal. For instance, I think that if someone believed that they could get a good degree, and they put the work in would be more likely to end up with a good degree compared to someone who was convinced that they are unable to do well, and subsequently they put less work in.

Moreover, I believe that the idea of positive affirmations which relate to positive self-talk are very healthy. This is because they enable people to improve their self-esteem. However, there is a big difference between consistently telling yourself that you are good enough, and in telling yourself that you will become a millionaire by next year. This way, I basically believe that positive affirmations outside the realm of ‘lucky girl syndrome’ are intrinsically healthy, however the ones relating to lucky girl syndrome, not so much. Therefore, perhaps it is important for people to focus on improving their self-esteem and doing as well as they can whilst accepting that there are some things that are beyond their control.

Alternatives and Final Thoughts

In my view, the implications of the WOOP strategy are a lot more realistic compared to the ones associated with ‘Lucky girl syndrome’, even though the WOOP strategy sounds even more eccentric! This is because it is a strategy that consists of proposing a ‘wish, outcome, obstacle and a plan’. Consequently, this encourages people to adopt a more optimistic outlook, meanwhile it encourages people to consider the difficulties in what they wish, and to find ways around this. The WOOP strategy also allows people to adjust their goals, or even let them go. However, because the person would have tried, they would be less likely to feel bad about themselves knowing that they have done everything that they can do. I believe that the WOOP strategy makes achieving goals more realistic for people, both because it encourages people to work to achieve them, whilst it encourages people to think of obstacles to get around them. This way, it should mean that people would be less likely to set unrealistic goals for themselves, to make them end up feeling worse about themselves. And whilst not all dreams are going to be realistic, according to the book ‘Rethinking Positive thinking’ which proposed the WOOP strategy, it is important for people to really consider their daydreams because it can signal what someone really needs. My gut instinct agrees that it is important for people to consider their dreams and think about what they can do to achieve something like them. However, I think it is equally important for people to really think about their dreams. Sadly, again a lot can be unrealistic. Moreover, I think that a lot of people (me included) might think that it would be nice to live in a mansion, but then thinking about it more deeply, realise that they do not want this.

Sources

https://theconversation.com/lucky-girl-syndrome-the-potential-dark-side-of-tiktoks-extreme-positive-thinking-trend-198439

https://www.bustle.com/life/what-is-the-law-of-assumption-manifestation-method-technique

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-law-of-attraction-exp_b_8430270