We are past our ‘Hot girl summer era’ and just in time for the new year we have landed in our ‘delusional era’ or the new Lucky Girl Syndrome. Above Image from Cottonbro Studio.
Lucky Girl Syndrome is the newest TikTok trend; It is the idea that you can attract luck and opportunities by saying positive affirmations out loud. Essentially you are telling yourself that everything works in your favour and through the power of the universe you will simply watch good things happen to you daily.
“Gen Z’s entitled, ‘life-changing’ new way of getting whatever they want — without having to work for it”.
– The New York Post
The hashtag #luckygirlsyndrome has more than 100m views on TikTok but positive mindsets and affirmations are nothing new. Lucky Girl syndrome is simply just the law of attraction, law of assumption and manifestation. All of these concepts believe that you have the power to shape your own reality through your state of mind.
Roxie Nafaousi, a two time Sunday Times Best Selling author who wrote about her experience with manifestation and self development says “I can definitely see why repeating affirmations such as ‘I am so lucky’ would have a positive effect on your life”.
“Affirmations like this, when repeated 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 behaviours and perceptions of your experiences to align with that statement.”
Related: The Manifestation Queen: Roxie Nafousi
Laura Galebe is a New York influencer who is believed to be one of the original Lucky Girls. Galebe says, “I just always expect great things to happen to me, and so they do”. This video has been viewed 2.7 million times. “Try being delusional for a month and tell me if your life doesn’t change,” she concluded.
The best part of Lucky Girl Syndrome is that you can start right now. Repeat after me: “I am so lucky. Everything works out for me and I’m always in the right place at the right time”.
@lauragalebe The secret is to assume and believe it before the concrete proof shows up. BE DELUSIONAL. #bedelusional #luckygirlsyndrome #affirmations #lawofassumption #manifestationtiktok #manifestingtok #lawofassumptiontok #manifestation ♬ original sound – Laura Galebe
Is ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ just toxic positivity?
Toxic positivity refers to feeling the need to always be positive, even when life is challenging and not going your way.
Dr Whitney Goodman the author of Toxic Positivity has commented on this trend. “There has been a longstanding belief that if you simply believe it, it will come true. Unfortunately, this is way more complicated and work will almost always be required.”
Some individuals start with stronger foundations. This could be a better family environment, money situation, health and abilities. Being lucky could be considered ‘privileged’ to others who don’t have the ability to do what others would consider the norm.
“It can definitely become a stepping stone towards toxic positivity when we assume that everyone can achieve something simply by thinking about it.”
Goodman says “There’s no planning for obstacles that may occur, no assessment of individual abilities, and no action plan, this type of thinking can become extremely harmful for people with chronic illness, disabilities, or other struggles.”
Can It cause imposter syndrome?
Imposter syndrome is when a person doubts their own abilities and skills, doubting their own success.
One Tik Tok video has pointed out that we should be careful about calling ourselves lucky when things go right or you accomplish a milestone. “If you tell yourself you’re ‘the luckiest girl in the world’ anytime you work really hard and improve your grades, land a job offer etc, you can end up full of self doubt, like you didn’t actually earn it.
Instead they would consider themselves just lucky rather proud of their own efforts and actions that got them there.
Whilst we agree that ‘lucky girl syndrome’ can be used as a tool to be more positive in this ever changing world, we agree that this is unrealistic for people in less privileged or ‘lucky’ situations. Don’t beat yourself up if something isn’t going your way, this has nothing to do with how many positive affirmations you may have said this morning or how lucky you are.
