The viral ‘lucky girl syndrome’ mindset, is the latest wellness practice to take TikTok by storm.
The trend, which seems to be a hyper-intense version of the popular Manifesting practice that has taken off in the last couple of years is the belief that if you think good things happen to you they will. But not everyone is convinced. Many believe it can lead some into the realms of toxic positivity, where one avoids anything that could be negative including not facing up to, acknowledging or dealing with negative emotions.
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What is Lucky Girl Syndrome?
"Lucky Girl Syndrome is essentially the belief that affirmative mantras and a positive mindset in life will bend everyday events in your favor and originates from law of attraction philosophy," explains Jade Thomas, Psychological Therapist at the Private Therapy Clinic.
Anyone who wants to become a Lucky Girl will simply say the phrase, "I am so lucky; everything works out for me." And then the ‘Universe’ will give the desired results. In theory, this can mean that if you are running late for work you can simply utter the phrase, and the stars will align in your favour to make sure you are on time. According to Jade, there are benefits of the practice, "When we have positive thinking we know from CBT approaches and theory that this then impacts our emotions and then our behaviour. There is also a part of 'Lucky Girl Syndrome' which empowers individuals by giving the idea that they have the control and power over their life and future. Psychological research has also suggested that positive self talk does improve our mental health and well-being, particularly our self esteem, stress management as well as reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety."
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Sabrina Percy who is the founder of Centien and an ACC certified Executive Coach, explains, "For me the manifestation principle appears to make use of Albert Bandura notion of self efficacy, which is the belief that one has the ability to achieve a goal," she continues, "However, we know that fantasising without action is unlikly to garner results, there can be an eliment of luck or chance, but of course this cannot be consitanly relied upon. I would be weary of people on social media claiming that they have manifested all their material goods and opportunities they have into their lives through wishful thinking alone."
"A persons context, network and where they start in terms of their journey towards their goal cannot be separated from the probability successful goal achievement. This ‘lucky girl syndrome’ should probably not be referred to as a syndrome. The most reliable way to achieve your goals is to make a plan, gather the relevant information you need, attempt to exitcute on your plan, pivot as new infomation arises, be kind to yourself, believe in yourself and don’t compare yourselves to others," reveals Sabrina.
What are the dangers of Lucky Girl Syndrome?
‘Queen of Manifesting’ Roxie Nafousi has sold hundreds of thousands of her best selling book Manifest. She for one, is not convinced by the “Lucky Girl” trend and thinks it can be incredibly misleading. “On the one hand, I can see why repeating affirmations such as ‘I am so lucky’ would have a positive effect on your life,” she explains, “Affirmations like this, when repeatedly regularly, could encourage the subconscious parts of your brain to seek out more opportunities and see things in a more positive light, create a better mindset, and therefore alter your behaviour and perceptions of your experiences to align with that statement. However, doing this alone is not manifestation.”
She continues, “It is a small part of it: repeating affirmations are a powerful tool and one that I recommend everyone to use as part of their manifesting practice, and I definitely would encourage everyone to be doing, but it is a tool to support the practice, not the practice itself. To me, this is another TikTok trend that I think devalues the manifesting practice.”
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She continues, “I worry that this trend is misleading people to think that they need to ‘just be luckier’ to attract things they want into their lives, which may encourage people to sit back and wait for things to come to them, rather than actively pursue or take action to make things happen. It might also make other people feel that they ‘just aren’t lucky enough’ and therefore discourage them from taking charge of their lives and creating their own luck.”
Many others have since criticised the positive thinking trend, saying it is ‘delusional.’ “You have to fully believe that you’re about to get what you’ve just manifested – and ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ focuses on that mindset alone, and clarifies it and distils it to a younger generation,” explains celebrity psychic and astrologer Inbaal Honigman, “Lucky Girl Syndrome gets you to fully believe that your desires are coming to fruition, and allows you to disregard any negative self-talk, which is the mindset at the heart of all miracles."
Based on expert advice shared with the team at Heads and Tails Jewellery, we explore the risks and benefits of the Lucky Girl Syndrome mindset...
Benefits of Lucky Girl Syndrome:
- Many agree that by choosing to think more positively, it is very likely that you will attract more positivity towards you.
- Feeling good inside is great for your overall mental, emotional, and physical health.
- You are also more likely to be able to manage negatives more easily and take advantage of any positive opportunities presented, walking away from the ones that don't benefit you.
- The Lucky Girl Syndrome trend has the added benefit of getting the affirmer to see themselves as uniquely deserving of unusual good fortune, which negates negative self-talk.
Risks of Lucky Girl Syndrome:
- You could also convince yourself that whatever you say will happen, will happen. You may just expect it and not put yourself out to make it happen, start to feel entitled that you can have whatever you want. It will then be difficult when those things don't come to fruition, and you won't know how to cope when they don't.
- In the hands of a narcissist, the Lucky Girl Syndrome can be unpleasant. Someone who already believes that the world owes them a living, that people owe them attention, doesn’t need extra affirmations to make them even more isolated from society.
- In the case of a lazy person, excessive use of affirmations in place of taking decisive action can create a void of results.
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