How to make your own luck!
The different types of luck and how you should be creating your own.
In Never Stop Learning this week I will be covering the following 1-2-3:
One Big Thing - How to make your own luck!
Two Recommendations - A book to help you build wealth and a controversial video.
Three Actions to take this week
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One Big Thing - How to make your own luck!
You’ve probably heard the phrase “the harder I work, the luckier I get”. I like this phrase a lot but it does pose the question about whether there is actually anything called luck at all. Are we really just talking about working hard or is it just simply chance. Right place, right time.
Maybe there are other ways to look at this. What if there were different types of luck and that, taking the working hard part and expanding on that concept, we could actually increase our luck. Or maybe its increase our chances of luck finding us.
Anyway, I believe in a certain randomness to the universe. I don’t really believe that things are meant to be. To a certain extent, if things were meant to be then that would in a way be a little depressing. After all your efforts, it was going to happen anyway. How demoralising!
So, I believe in agency. We are in control. Events out of our control will hit us, but we control our destiny to a certain extent at the individual level.
A few weeks back I posted a recommendation to The Almanac of Naval Ravikant. Check it out if you haven already. The guy is a legend.
Naval talks about four different types of luck. Let’s explore those in a little more detail.
1. Blind Luck
This is the win the lottery type of luck. You could say you bought the ticket and so earned that luck but at 1 in 45,057,474 for the UK Lottery its basically blind luck or chance. You’re just a number, nothing more.
ACTION: To be honest, there isn’t much you can or should do here. You could buy a ticket maybe but these things just turn up.
2. Luck through persistence
This type of luck could be epitomised by consistency. I have read many many articles on how to write successful newsletters. Nearly all of these articles talk about consistency.
Turning up week after week, month after month.
But when you look at many newsletter growth trajectories. A hobby of mine! You see much of their growth doesn’t really come from a gently trickle of subscribers as you grind away week after week.
Growth often comes in bursts. These are break out moments where someone somewhere reads your post, shares it with their 1,000,000 followers and boom! You get a growth surge.
Quite often, the writer will say that particular post wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. There was no clear reason why that post at that particular time went viral.
It was luck…..through persistence.
Turn up week after week maximised the chances of having a breakout moment.
ACTION: Keep turning up and keep the faith.
3. Good at spotting luck
Maybe spotting luck isn’t the right way of describing this one. It’s more about spotting opportunities and making your own luck that way.
Quite often you see these opportunities in the work environment - especially when you are relatively junior but it can apply at any stage in your career.
These opportunities can arise on a cold wet Tuesday morning in February. ie at a time when you least expect it and probable at a time when you are lacking energy to do something new. You are quite happy making another coffee and taking an early tea break.
Your boss comes up to you and asks you to attend in their place at the upcoming Board meeting. It’s a last minute thing, you aren’t really prepared and so many important people will be attending. Oh, and you need to give an update on your bosses behalf.
What do you do?
YOU SAY YES OF COURSE!
It’s in these small moments that being able to spot something as a piece of luck is a skill. Being able to take that opportunity is what separates you from the crowd.
ACTION: If you are early in your career keep saying “yes” to things!*
*as long as it’s legal
4. Build the skills and luck will find you
The final type is a little peculiar. This is about building your skill sets so that when an opportunity comes about you can dive in and take advantage of this “luck”.
So, it is similar to number two but instead of being driven by consistency, it is driven by having the skills.
ACTION: Invest in yourself, that is a sure-fire investment that cannot be taken away from you.
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Two Recommendations - what to consume this week
1. Konstantin Kisin at the Oxford Union
If you haven’t already watched this (where have you been!) then please take ten mins and give this a go.
Konstantin articulates his point at the Oxford Union impressively.
I don’t agree with everything…I personally think that rich nations have a duty to lead by example by implementing policies to reduce carbon emissions.
But he is right, why should the poor people of the world curtail their chances of becoming richer to save the planet.
What we should be doing in the rich world is not throwing ourselves in front of cars and being disruptive but channelling that energy into finding new technologies that can be used to actually sold the problem for everyone.
I’d love to know what you think!
2. Rules of Wealth, Richard Templar
This book has formed the bedrock of how I’ve approached my finances over the years. Full of great tips (and rules!). Buy now.
Three Actions To Take This Week
My vision for this newsletter is to provide you with weekly actions that you can take away and use in your life in the coming week. So, here are three things you could try this week:
Undertake a review of all your finances - start the new tax year with a clean slate
Start a TikTok Account - I know, you didn’t think I was going to suggest that one did you! I started one last night! Just as an experiment!
Think about one skill you could learn that would increase your wealth
📝 Other Newsletters I Recommend
Here are 3 of the newsletters I’m currently recommending that I strongly suggest you check out:
If you’d like to cross promote your newsletter please drop me a line in the comments below.
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Appreciate you taking time to recommend us here, Martin.
Pleased you're enjoying the reading.
Just as a side note, due to its nature, Almanack of Naval Ravikant is free and available on its official website: https://www.navalmanack.com/. (You do not need to order it through Amazon.)