How to Get Lucky

Welcome to the 930 new members of the curiosity tribe who have joined us since Friday. Join the 73,957 others who are receiving high-signal, curiosity-inducing content every single week. Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Trends ! Trends is my personal cheat code for generating new business and content ideas. It’s a premium newsletter from The Hustle that deconstructs the secret sauce of interesting businesses, side hustles, and emerging opportunities—and gives you the playbook to pounce on them. Even better, membership provides instant access to an exclusive community of 15,000+ entrepreneurs who are building the future. I learn something new from every single issue—it has become a core part of my content and learning engine. A true must-read. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Use the link below to join—no commitment, no catch, cancel anytime! Today at a Glance: Much of what we come to call "luck" is actually the macro result of 1,000s of micro actions. Your daily habits put you in a position where “luck” is more likely to strike. In order to get lucky, you have to remove the “black holes” (anti-luck) from your existence. You have to take actions to expand your personal luck surface area. Today’s piece shares 20 ways to expand your luck surface area. How to Get Lucky “Diligence is the mother of good luck.” - Benjamin Franklin “Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come.” - Serena Williams “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson Luck is an interesting concept. There is certainly “luck” that is uncontrollable—pure and raw. Where you are born, who you are born to, and the base circumstances of your life all fall into this category of luck. But as we push beyond this baseline, the concept of luck morphs into something more impure and fluid. In fact, I believe that much of what we come to call "luck" is actually the macro result of 1,000s of micro actions. Your daily habits put you in a position where “luck” is more likely to strike. Interstellar & Luck Surface Area In the movie Interstellar (slight spoiler if you haven’t seen it!), there’s a scene in which the main characters discuss the habitability of a planet on the edge of a large black hole. The protagonists realize that the proximity to the black hole makes life unlikely to exist on the planet—the black hole absorbed all of the “lucky” events that might have been the spark for life. The asteroids carrying the seeds of life, the chance collisions—none of them could occur because the “luck surface area” of the planet was minuscule given its proximity to the all-absorbing black hole. I think about this scene a lot—it’s a sneakily powerful metaphor for life. In order to get lucky, you have to remove the “black holes” from your existence. You have to take actions to expand your personal luck surface area. In today’s piece, I’d like to get you started on this journey… Here are 20 ways to expand your luck surface area: Be the Dumbest in the Room If you have a choice between entering two rooms, choose the room where you are more likely to be the dumbest one in the room. Once you’re in the room, talk less and listen more. It’s bad for your ego, but it’s great for luck. Good things tend to happen in these rooms. Hang Out With Optimists Pessimists sound smart, optimists get rich. When choosing who to spend time with, prioritize spending time with optimists. Pessimists see the doors that are closed. Optimists see the doors that are open—and probably kick down the closed doors. Pessimists are “black holes” in your life that need to be removed in order for you to get lucky. Get in the Arena There's no luck on the sidelines—the arena is where it strikes. It's lonely and vulnerable, but it's the only path that bears real fruit. When faced with two paths, choose the path that puts you in the arena—where collisions happen, where luck can strike. Furthermore, surround yourself with people who are also in the arena. Sideline rock slingers never get lucky. Write in Public When you write and publish your ideas and insights, you are casting a web of magnets out into the world. Those ideas and insights will attract some people to you—and perhaps repel others. As your web grows, the connections—and luck—compound accordingly. Sahil Note: I am a testament to this fact. My luck has increased significantly since I started writing in public. There are no qualifications or requirements to get started—just energy. Talk to Strangers "Don't talk to strangers" is a classic we are told as children—the residue of which carries into adulthood for far too many people. New relationships spark new ideas, insights, and opportunities—these compound just as well as any financial investment. Broad Network = Broad Luck. "There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met." - William Butler Yeats Send More Cold Emails Cold emails are responsible for some of the biggest breaks in my life—new mentors, relationships, and career opportunities. Cold emails are a force multiplier for your efforts. Follow the principles in my Cold Email Guide to enhance your odds of success. Always remember: Shooters shoot. Schedule Free Time The idea that free time is bad is one of the greatest lies you’ve been told. In investing, it’s often said that cash is a call option on future interesting investments. Well, in life, I believe that free time is a call option on future interesting opportunities. When you have free time, you have the headspace to pursue new ideas and go down rabbit holes. Plan for more of it. Ruthlessly Eliminate Negativity Everyone has a few negative people in their circle. They tell you to be realistic. They laugh at your ambition. They argue. Eliminate this negativity from your life. It's a boat anchor—a major black hole—cut the damn line and run away from it as fast as you can. Negative people are quite literally the anti-luck. Embrace the Unexpected You should spend your 20s saying yes to almost everything. Saying yes puts you into uncomfortable situations that lead to new relationships, opportunities, and growth. These unexpected moments are luck-rich. Embracing them is how you capitalize. Hustle Hard When you have a bias for motion, good things happen. You create more random collisions in your ecosystems—it’s like chaos theory. A bit of hustle goes a long way. “There’s luck through persistence, hard work, hustle, and motion. This is when you’re running around creating opportunities. You’re generating a lot of energy, you’re doing a lot to stir things up. It’s almost like mixing a petri dish or mixing a bunch of reagents and seeing what combines. You’re just generating enough force, hustle, and energy for luck to find you.” - Naval Ravikant Trust the Weekend Test "What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years." - Chris Dixon Observe the weekend project...