What is 'lucky girl syndrome'? The manifestation technique, explained

Different manifestation techniques are taking over TikTok, and "lucky girl syndrome" is the latest way people claim to achieve the life they desire.

Like the name implies, lucky girl syndrome is about bringing luck into your life through positive thinking. Although some TikTok users call it "delusional," this manifestation technique has become popular for a reason, with many people saying their optimistic outlook seemed to create new opportunities. It's simply a more tangible way for people to shift their thinking — and thus, their reality.

But is there actually any truth to it? Here's what you need to know about lucky girl syndrome, including if experts recommend giving the viral manifestation technique a try.

What is lucky girl syndrome?

Though some users began using the term in early 2022, it really took off after TikTok user @lauragalebe posted a video, in which she described herself as one of the luckiest people she knows.

"I get the most insane opportunities thrown at me out of nowhere," she said in the video, which has garnered nearly 3 million views. "There's literally no better way to explain it than it feels like the odds are completely in my favor."

While she's uncertain when she began this way of thinking, Galebe makes a point to tell people how lucky she is and that she expects "great things" to happen to her.

Galebe acknowledged that people have said this mindset could leave room for disappointment, but she thinks if one thing doesn't go the way she anticipates, something better is in the works.

"Be delusional for a month and tell me your life doesn't change," she challenged her audience.

Lucky girl syndrome is based on the law of assumption, which says that should a person assume and believe something to be true, that concept becomes a reality.

Neville Goddard, who is widely considered a pioneer in spreading this teaching, wrote that "man, by assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled and then living and acting on this conviction changes his future in harmony with his assumption."

Through his meditations, Goddard challenged people to look at themselves from an outside perspective, believing whatever personal desire to be entirely true.

According to Goddard, an individual who successfully uses the law of assumption will no longer be in a state of desire. Rather, the person will be in a state of gratitude, making them thankful that they have already achieved a goal. "It is assuming the feeling of being that which you desire to be."

Does the lucky girl mindset actually work?

Since the video from @lauragalebe went viral, TikTok has been filled with more accounts of how this “lucky” mindset has changed lives for the better.

In another viral video, TikTok user @skzzolno shared how this way of thinking positively impacted her and her friend. An example: They both got the bedrooms they wanted after repeating, "Everything works out for us."

"It was literally just an experiment and we're like, 'Let's see if it works' and literally did," she explained. "Everything just works out for us now."

A video from TikTok user @piscesdreamss spelled out the sudden luck that her and her husband started experiencing after they leaned into the trend.

Jokingly, they started saying, "Everything works out for us." That night, her husband won a $900 sports bet. The next day, he got to leave work early, which is rare.

"I'm telling you guys every single day I'm going to start saying it," she said. "Everything works out for me. The universe gives me whatever I want because everything works out for me."

What do experts say about the technique?

Manifestation coach Juliette Kristine Conner tells TODAY.com that the lucky girl mindset is, indeed, a true practice of manifestation, adding that it "has been around for years."

However, Conner says you have to be in the right “emotional state” when saying the affirmations to ensure that everything will work in your favor.

"You want to be in a positive mood when you say it as this will make it feel more believable," Conner writes via email. "Trying to tell yourself that you’re lucky when you are feeling down will make it feel pushed and forced, like you’re lying to yourself."

If you're in a negative headspace, sit in it and process your thoughts "until you’re feeling good to resume and say it again."

By doing this, people are training their mind's reticular activating system, which Conner describes as "a system in your brain that filters out unnecessary information so the important things can get through and it decides what is necessary based on what you are focusing on and your beliefs."

"So if you believe things are always working out for you, your RAS will keep finding ways to reaffirm this," she says.

In fact, lucky girl syndrome is also similar to a concept taught by Dr. Sue Morter in “The Energy Codes," which states that everything happening in a person’s life is occurring for their benefit and not to them.

“Rather than ‘making the best of a situation,’ which implies that something ‘bad’ has happened and we should work at turning it into something ‘good,’ what if the truth is that the situation, no matter what it is, truly was never bad in the first place,” Morter wrote.

She acknowledges that the “more painful” a situation is, the more difficult it would be to embrace this way of thinking. But still, Morter insists that living in this state of mind allows a person to live their life to the fullest.

What affirmations can I say to embrace lucky girl syndrome?

Take a cue from the aforementioned TikTok creators and recite these affirmations to bring some luck into your life.

• "Great things are always happening to me unexpectedly."
• "I'm so lucky."
• "Everything works out in my favor."
• "It is always working out for me."
• "The universe is always working in my favor."
• "I'm the luckiest person I know."