The Way to Become Luckier
The harder you work, the better your luck
Recently, I finished reading Shoe Dog. It is a book by the creator of Nike, Phil Knight. On the second to last page of the book, I was particularly moved by one of the passages.
“Luck plays a big role. Yes, I’d like to publicly acknowledge the power of luck. Athletes get lucky, poets get lucky, businesses get lucky. Hard work is critical, a good team is essential, brains and determination are invaluable, but luck may decide the outcome. Some people might not call it luck. They might call it Tao, or Logos, or Jñāna, or Dharma. Or Spirit. Or God.
Put it this way. The harder you work, the better your Tao. And since not one has ever adequately defined Tao, I now try to regularly go to mass. I would tell them: Have faith in yourself, but also have faith in faith. Not faith as others define it. Faith as you define it. Faith as faith defines itself in your heart.”
Luck is an interesting phenomenon. It is almost as if it has a negative connotation to it. Phil Knight publicly acknowledged luck, a place where few would go. It was the elephant in the room and it almost seems as if the success that was a byproduct of luck should be deemed unworthy. We are led to believe that if luck was at play in an outcome, the results of it should come with an asterisk. Some supernatural force guided it making it undeserving. It would have not been achieved if not for luck.
The thing is, luck is involved with everything. The world is a random place and our existence is a non-scripted experience. Everything involves luck but sometimes, it is more pronounced than others.
I consider myself quite lucky. I have a good job, live with five friends, I am in good health, and have a loving family. Never did I think I would come out of college and get to live with five of my friends, maybe one or two, but five no way.
I am quite lucky that I can write each week and I find these ideas through, what some may call luck.
Never did I get a tattoo thinking it would become a blog post, never did I think reading Morgan Housel’s blog would ignite an idea of my own, never did I think running would become a metaphor for life. Sometimes you just find these ideas and creative avenues through luck but the continual search and prodding for these ideas is what allows me to be lucky.
This idea is not specific to me either. Tom Brady would have never been Tom Brady if not for Drew Bledsoe getting destroyed by Mo Lewis in 2001. Nike would have never been Nike if Phil Knight had not evolved a run-of-the-mill research paper assignment about shoes at Stanford to an all-out obsession. Bill Gates would have never been Bill Gates had he not had a high school teacher who saw the potential value of computers in 1968. Some lucky guys.
Life is a continual roll of hundreds of dice that results in thousands of possible outcomes. We can’t control luck and how the rolls may play out but we can influence it.
Influencing Your Luck
Rory Sutherland, a British advertising executive, is quoted saying,
“You can create the conditions that maximize the chance that you get lucky, you can’t determine the moment in which that occurs.”
Part of the luck behind Brady’s success was he worked hard and prepared every week despite being a backup. When the odds were positively shifted in his favor, when he finally got a chance to play, he was ready and could leverage the opportunity to a level many didn’t think was possible. He never knew when that moment may come but he maximized the conditions when he was afforded that luck to fully take advantage of it.
Phil Knight evolved an assignment to an obsession but behind that obsession were many long nights, frugal days, and daring risks. He paused his life after Stanford to chase that obsession and worked to tilt luck more in his favor. He talked to Japanese shoe companies, Bill Bowerman, friends, friends of friends, and so many more people to up his chance of becoming luckier.
It is not that certain people are luckier than others, either.
Luck finds you. Luck finds you through upping your chances and having faith that some greater, destined force will help do the rest for you. It is a continual fight to put yourself out there.
We find ourselves in the right place, at the right time through consistency and an open mind. More occurrences allow for more opportunities and an open, positive mind allows you to expect positive outcomes and be open to things that may come your way. Your attitude and views ultimately determine your reality, which is why a positive attitude will take you so much farther in life.
This is a scientific fact. Richard Wiseman made a career of researching luck and conducting studies around it. He put it quite succinctly on what differentiates so-called “unlucky” people from “lucky” people, pulled from Tom Morgan’s great article on luck,
“They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and as a result miss other types of jobs. Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for.”
An open mind takes you places but when there is only a singular goal in mind, a tunnel vision of sorts, other opportunities can be missed. The more luck we receive is a result of the more we allow ourselves to seek opportunities. More opportunities create a larger surface area of luck.
It is all about expanding the surface area of your luck. Expose yourself to opportunities and resources that can lead to success. The way to create and maximize more opportunities is through hard work and preparation so when the opportunities do arise you are ready to pounce.
Imagine if Tom Brady had just accepted the backup role, something some would say is reasonable considering he was only a sixth-round pick. He would have never been lucky.
When looking at any great person, luck is involved. Luck is a prerequisite to greatness. We can’t control the amount of luck we experience but we can make ourselves a big target for luck by making our surface area of luck larger.
Curiosity, persistence, and a refusal to quit are quite good traits to possess to widen that surface area and stretch out that target. Always ask questions, always learn from others, always try new things, and always meet new people. Any great person does those things.
Be optimistic about the future. Your attitude does determine your reality and you are more likely to produce great work with a view of optimism rather than pessimism. You are also much more likely to not view yourself as a victim. Instead realize that you are a product of being lucky, which is derived from what you have put out into the world and your view of the world.
Parting Words
Luck is difficult to quantify and it is hard to know how much of something should be attributed to luck. What you can quantify is creating more chances to get lucky. As the world becomes more digital, these opportunities expand and we are more connected than ever before. Put yourself out there with an open mind and you can become luckier.
At the very least, you will slowly begin to shift the odds in your favor. You may not yet see the moment you become lucky but you can continue to create opportunities that will one day allow that moment to happen. It is about having faith in you.
Faith that you, just like everyone else, are a lucky person.
Thanks for reading.
Scantron’s Selections - A few things I loved this week.
Jack Raines - Some Advice for a 22-Year-Old Just Getting Started - Even though I am 24, I still got so much out of it. Advice from someone who is killing the game, one of the best articles I have read this year and the people I sent it to agree.
Morgan Housel - Intelligent vs. Smart - There is a difference, but what is it exactly?
Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin - Rory Sutherland - A 3 hour 37 minute marathon packed full of interesting insights that we surely expose you to a new way of thinking.