Top Scientist: Why Some People Are Luckier (& How You Can Become One of Them)

The Liz Moody Podcast

Liz Moody

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Education, Mental Health

4.8 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2025

⏱️ 109 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if everything you believed about luck was wrong? In this perspective-shifting episode, I sit down with Dr. Christian Busch—professor at USC, researcher, and author of The Serendipity Mindset—to explore the idea that luck isn’t just something that happens to us. It’s something we can actively create. Whether you’ve felt stuck, unlucky, or just waiting for your big break, this conversation will make you rethink how you move through the world. Dr. Busch explains how the most “lucky” people are often just the most attuned—they notice opportunities others miss, ask better questions, and take action on the unexpected. He breaks down how small behavioral shifts—like using “hooks” in everyday conversations—can turn random encounters into real opportunities. And if you’re more introverted? Good news: cultivating serendipity isn’t about being loud or flashy. It’s about being open, curious, and present. We also explore how busyness, fear of rejection, and autopilot thinking can block you from seeing the luck that’s already around you—and what you can do to change that. 👇 Reflect or share: When was a time something felt like bad luck… but turned out to be a turning point? 🎧 What you’ll learn: Why luck is a skill you can develop—not a personality trait How fear of rejection might be costing you life-changing moments The “hook strategy” for creating connection and serendipity What successful people do differently to spark unexpected opportunities The 3 types of serendipity and how to use them in your own life Dr. Busch also shares incredible real-life examples—from missed flights to spilled matcha to scientific discoveries—that prove luck is more about mindset and action than magic. You’ll walk away with tools to rewire your brain for optimism, curiosity, and better timing. ✨ Homework: Think back to a moment when something went wrong. What new possibility might have been buried inside that moment? If you’ve been waiting for a sign—it might be time to make your own luck. Tune in now. For more from Dr. Christian Busch: Get his book: https://theserendipitymindset.com/books/ Learn more about his work and talks at: https://theserendipitymindset.com His Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drchristianbusch/ His LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianwbusch Ready to uplevel every part of your life? Order Liz’s book 100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships & Success now! Connect with Liz on Instagram @lizmoody or online at www.lizmoody.com. Subscribe to the substack by visiting https://lizmoody.substack.com/welcome. Buy our cute sweatshirts, conversation cards, and more at https://shop.lizmoody.com/. Use our discount codes from our highly vetted and tested brand partners by visiting https://www.lizmoody.com/codes. To join The Liz Moody Podcast Club Facebook group, go to www.facebook.com/groups/thelizmoodypodcast. This episode is brought to you completely free thanks to the following podcast sponsors: Masterclass: check out MasterClass.com/LizMoody for 15% off an annual membership. Nutrafol: visit Nutrafol.com and use promo code LIZMOODY to get $10 off plus free shipping. OneSkin: head to OneSkin.co and use the code LIZ for 15% off your purchase. The Liz Moody Podcast cover art by Zack. The Liz Moody Podcast music by Alex Ruimy. Formerly the Healthier Together Podcast. This podcast and website represents the opinions of Liz Moody and her guests to the show. The content here should not be taken as medical advice. The content here is for information purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions. The Liz Moody Podcast Episode 373. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If someone feels like nothing ever goes their way, are they actually unlucky or is it something that they're missing?
0:05.8	Bad luck happens to all of us. A lot of times it's about what questions do we ask, do we engage with people, what do we put out there?
0:11.6	How do you define luck? Two different pieces. One is the blind luck that just happens to us. It's the kind of fortune that we didn't work for it and it just presents itself. It's unexpected, it's random. And then serendipity is active luck. It's the interaction between the unexpected
0:25.5	and our own agency. Hi, my name is Dr. Christian Bush. I am the author of the Serendipity
0:30.5	mindset, the art and science of creating good luck and a professor at the University of Southern
0:35.1	California. And I am fascinated by connecting dots and
0:38.2	seeing how we can cultivate serendipity. If someone feels like nothing ever goes their way, are they
0:43.8	actually unlucky or is it something that they're missing? That's a great question because the way
0:47.9	I think about it is in two parts. One is, well, you know, bad luck happens to all of us. And we can't
0:52.9	pick it and it happens and it creates a lot of inequality. And then on the other hand, the fact that most of us can be the architects of our own fortune or misfortune. So, you know, take my wife. She, most amazing wife, deeply in love with her. If you would ask her, do you consider yourself to be a lucky person? She would say, yes, but also an unlucky person. And so I've always been fascinated by this, that when you look at the patterns in her life, she creates a lot of serendipity, and I'm sure we'll talk about that part where she does things that she puts herself into situations where good things happen. But at the same time, she also has some patterns, like for example, you know, she knows exactly how long it takes to get to the airport, so she will always cut it exactly to that minute. And so now if there's this unexpected traffic jam because there was an unexpected accident, she will miss the flight. And it would seem as if it was the accident that caused the missing the flight, but it was because there was no margin for error. And so it's that kind of
1:44.1	thing where you can in your own life then see, oh, wow, there are some patterns that allow me to
1:48.9	have good luck and some patterns that allow me to have bad luck. And I think working on that is
1:52.7	fascinating. Do you think certain people are more likely to engage in patterns that allow them to have
1:58.1	good luck, though? Like, are certain people born luckier because they are
2:01.6	essentially engaging in those patterns? Well, socialization plays a huge role, right? How we grow up,
2:06.7	do we feel that our locus of control is with us? Do we feel we can have agency when
2:11.8	situations present themselves? But, you know, there's a favorite experiment they have where
2:16.6	they pick people who are very unlucky and people who consider themselves to be very lucky.
2:22.3	Right. So the unlucky people would say, well, I'm always in accidents and bad things tend to happen to me and so on.
2:27.6	And we probably all have people in our lives that are on that continuum between very lucky, very unlucky.
2:31.8	And so they pick one of each and they say, walk down the street, go into the coffee shop,
2:36.4	sit down, and then we'll have our conversation.
	...

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