When choosing between two paths, choose the path that has a larger luck surface area.
Much of what we call "luck" is the macro result of 10 000s of micro-actions that compound over a long time.
It’s hard to get lucky watching Netflix or tracking the news 24/7 with doom scrolling.
You seldom, if ever, get lucky sitting down and staring into space.
It’s much easier to get lucky when you're learning and when you’re enrolled in the journey of levelling up.
The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to "deliberate practice.”
It's easier to get lucky when you show up in the right places, like this kid.
While the surface area is about being in a position where “luck” is more likely to strike, depth is about developing your expertise, so you are ready to own the chance when luck hits you.
Ray Kroc, the man who brought McDonald’s to the world, spent years working as a salesman before finding the McDonald brothers.
It’s easy to think that he got lucky because he met the brothers.
The truth is, Ray worked extremely hard to open hundreds of McDonald’s branches across the US.
The McDonald brothers didn’t have the vision, but he had it.
And the rest was history.
A golf player, after taking a particularly difficult shot, received a round of applause from the onlooking crowd.
Everybody was cheering, clapping their hands and loudly commenting on this unbelievable stunt.
Everybody, except one old gentleman.
“Oh, man, that ain’t nothing but damn luck,” he accused the golf player in a mocking tone.
“Yeah, you’re right,” the golf player replied.
“But you know what?
The funny thing is, the more I practice, the more luck I have.”
Boost your luck that'll tilt the odds in your favour by surrounding yourself with people who want to do work that matters.
Look around at who you spend your time with, like Stanley McCrystal, a retired Army Four Star General.
People we often think of as lucky didn't let bad luck stop them from hard work.
Good attitude does indeed open all doors.
But how many failures does it take to reach success?
This billion-dollar company failed 39 times before perfecting the formula. and becoming successful.
The brand name, WD-40, reflects its history.
"Water Displacement perfected on the 40th try.”
In 1983, after four years of building and testing 5,126 prototypes of a new vacuum cleaner, James Dyson finally discovered the secret to creating a bagless vacuum using cyclone technology.
If you keep trying, you will get lucky.
Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone could tell you something about it.
Naval Ravikant puts luck in 4 categories.
The first kind of luck is Blind Luck a.k.a dumb luck.
Stuff you have zero control over.
You get lucky because something completely out of your control happened.
The second one is Persistent Luck.
Luck that comes from hard work and persistence.
This is when you’re running around creating opportunities, generating a lot of energy and doing a lot to stir things up.
The third one is Spotted Luck.
Luck that comes from being prepared to act on an opportunity when you see it.
The last kind of luck - Directed Luck - is the hardest kind.
Luck that is generated because you have built a unique mindset or brand.
It is when you become the best at what you do and somebody else spots an opportunity and turns to you to assist because you are uniquely qualified.
We cannot control our luck - good or bad - but we can control our effort and preparation.
No one - I repeat no one - is lucky all the time.
We all have setbacks.
We all have disappointments.
We all have our plans rained on from time to time.
Such is life.
In reality, we all start on an equal footing.
Tragically, we develop it as we go along in our careers.
Once the ceiling is formed, it’s difficult to break through.
Raise your game.
Get outside your comfort zone.
Good luck!
Not that you need it... just go make it.
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