Episode

What Lucky People Do Differently, According to Science | Tina Seelig

Podcast
Good Life Project
Published
Jun 11, 2026
Duration seconds
2965
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https://shows.acast.com/goodlifeprojectinspirationmotivationhappinessmeaningsuccess/episodes/what-lucky-people-do-differently-according-to-science-tina-s
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Summary

Luck is not a personality trait you either have or you don't. It is something you build, and science tells us there are specific, learnable skills behind why some people consistently seem to be in the right place at the right time while others walk right past the same opportunities. Tina Seelig has spent over 25 years at Stanford teaching and studying exactly this. As Executive Director of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program and a longtime faculty member at the Stanford d.school, she has watched thousands of students move through the world, and the differences between those who generate luck and those who don't are far more concrete and actionable than most people realize. Her new book is What I Wish I Knew About Luck: A Crash Course on Turning Aspirations into Achievements . In this conversation, you will explore: What separates fortune from luck, and why that distinction changes everything about where you actually have agency in your life The ship, crew, and sail framework for understanding what it really takes to become luckier, and where most people skip a step Why your mental model of failure, whether it feels like a trampoline or a black hole, may be the single most powerful predictor of how much luck you create The hidden social behaviors that consistently show up in the luckiest people, from thank-you notes to a very specific way of asking for help Why luck is a long game, and the story of how behavior at a disastrous Costa Rica resort determined the outcome of a job interview fifteen years later If you have ever looked at someone who seems consistently lucky and wondered what they are doing differently, this conversation will give you some clear answers. You can find Tina at: LinkedIn | Episode Transcript Next week, we are featuring one of our most talked-abo…