A cheat code I wish I could teach my 18-year-old self...
The 4 Types of Luck:
In 1978, neurologist Dr. James Austin published a book entitled Chase, Chance, & Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty.
He proposed that there are 4 types of luck:
(1) Blind Luck
(2) Luck from Motion
(3) Luck from Awareness
(4) Luck from Uniqueness
Here's what they are:
Type 1: Blind Luck
Completely out of your control:
• Where you are born
• Who you are born to
• Base circumstances of your life
• "Acts of God"
Truly random occurrences of the universe.
Type 2: Luck from Motion
You’re creating motion and collisions through hustle and energy that you are inserting into an ecosystem.
You increase your luck surface area through simple movement.
The increase in collisions opens you up to more lucky events.
Type 3: Luck from Awareness
Depth of understanding within a given arena allows you to become very good at positioning yourself for lucky breaks.
@naval says: "You become very good at spotting luck."
You can “spot luck” from a mile away because of your knowledge and experience.
Type 4: Luck from Uniqueness
Your unique set of attributes attracts specific luck to you.
“[This type] favors those with distinctive, if not eccentric hobbies, personal lifestyles, and motor behaviors.” - Dr. James Austin
Type 4 Luck actually seeks you out.
I think of Type 1-3 as coming in stages as you grow up:
• Type 1 dictates the early years of your life.
• Type 2 comes into play as you begin to hustle in your 20s.
• Type 3 sets in as you develop experience in your 30s.
Type 4 is unique—it’s dislocated from age dependency.
To recap the 4 types of luck:
• Type 1: Blind Luck
• Type 2: Luck from Motion
• Type 3: Luck from Awareness
• Type 4: Luck from Uniqueness
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There are lots of simple ways to increase your luck:
(1) Talk to more new people—go out instead of staying in.
(2) Send more cold emails.
(3) Write/share in public.
(4) Actively participate in digital communities.
(5) Spend more time in rooms where you’re the dumbest person.
The Luck Razor
When choosing between two paths, choose the path that has a larger LUCK SURFACE AREA.
Your actions put you in a position where luck is more likely to strike.
It’s hard to get lucky watching TV at home—it’s easy to get lucky when you’re engaging and learning.
I also think a lot about “Anti-Luck”:
In the movie Interstellar, there’s a scene in which the main characters discuss the habitability of a planet on the edge of a large black hole.
They realize the proximity to the black hole makes life unlikely to exist on the planet.
Why?
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 could occur.
In other words, the “luck surface area” of the planet was minuscule given the pull of the black hole.
I think about this scene a lot.
It’s a uniquely powerful metaphor for life.
In order to get lucky, you also have to remove the “black holes” from your existence.
“Black Holes” are the people, behaviors, and actions that are anti-luck.
Remove the Anti-Luck.
Very cool visualization from @SachinRamje!
This brilliant image from the thread is from my friend @drex_jpg.
Exceptional artist!
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