On Luck

I enjoyed reading this excerpt by Ben Casnocha. It's really amazing the amount of reading material that exists on the internet.

Excerpt 1: How to Maximize Luck

From Chapter 8

 

I made mistakes when we hired our interim CEO, but I also got unlucky. Sometimes that’s the way things go. In my view, luck is the single most underrated component of success. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to maximize your chances of being lucky. 

1. Expose yourself to as much randomness as possible. Attend conferences no one else is attending. Read books no one else is reading. Talk to people no one else is talking to. Who would have thought that giving a speech at a funeral at age twelve would introduce me to a man who would introduce me to my first business contact who would introduce to several other important people in my life? That's luck. That's randomness.

A/N: I definitely think this is true -- some of the most amazing things that have happened to me have been largely luck-related and random. And they're even more amazing because of the randomness. I had a friend who told me that he was infamously jammy* (lucky, basically) amongst his friends ... dunno about the truth of that, but I recall that he really did love doing tons of random things.

2. Trust in probabilities of luck. I think life works in peaks and valleys. Every time luck doesn't go my way I believe a piece of good luck is right around the corner—you always bounce up after hitting rock bottom. Similarly, whenever I get lucky I prepare myself for weathering a dip. Knowing this, I can always mitigate a rough stretch and make the most of the good times.

A/N: Reminds me of religion, faith, spirituality, karma... and luck? I think they're all related, at least a little. Connected by some thread.

3. Trick yourself. Self-deception is essential for high self-esteem. It's OK to take more credit than you deserve, in your own mind, for successes. It's OK to think that you can outwork and outpassion anyone who competes with you. It's OK to attribute soaring victories to a tireless work ethic. It's OK if these are slight exaggerations. After all, how many people attribute "good luck" to their wins? Far fewer than those who attribute "bad luck" to their losses! Stay humble, especially on the outside, but consider yourself (privately) as unstoppable.

A/N: This is sweet. A sort of "believe in yourself the most!" missive.


This is kind of a different post than usual... feel free to leave feedback!

*British slang, I think. UrbanDictionary definition:

	jammy	177 up, 72 down
	flukey,lucky,defying probability with outrageous good fortune 'That was a jammy pool shot', said the guy playing pool in Geraldton.