Maybe a lot of us believe that we need to be ‘lucky’ in order to be successful. And maybe that’s true in some form or fashion. But is there anything we can do about luck?
First, there’s a nice quote I came across. Luck is when hard work meets opportunity. This is wonderful because it leaves a lot in our control. We can work hard, or work smart or both. And we can keep scouting for opportunities. Something will eventually click.
In the book called The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by the eponymous angel investor, he discusses four types of luck.
- Blind luck: Getting lucky without doing anything. Like winning the lottery.
- Luck through persistence, hard work and hustle: This is about creating opportunities so luck can find us.
- Sensitivity to luck: By becoming skilled in a field that you are able to spot opportunities others can’t.
- Luck that finds you: By becoming the foremost expert in a field, and opportunities flock to you as it can go nowhere else.
The last two are somewhat similar, the difference being that the last one is the hardest, and requires work on ourselves to such an extent that luck finds us. In the third example, we still need to find luck. There’s another fifth kind of luck I like. Which is to think and feel that I’m super lucky for everything that I have – experiences, possessions, relationships, the works. This gratitude helps alleviate all anxieties of the future, as everything till now itself is nothing but a series of lucky blessings.