Luck and Success
The role of chance and circumstance in outcomes, and how to increase your luck surface area.
Also known as: Role of luck, Luck in success
Category: Concepts
Tags: successes, luck, probabilities, opportunity, humility
Explanation
Success involves both effort and luck, but people tend to overattribute their own success to skill and others' success to luck. Research shows that luck plays a larger role than often acknowledged - timing, connections, birth circumstances, and random opportunities significantly influence outcomes. However, luck isn't entirely random. You can increase your 'luck surface area' by: doing more (quantity increases probability of lucky breaks), telling more people (spreading word about what you're doing), staying curious and open (noticing opportunities others miss), and positioning yourself where luck can find you. Nassim Taleb's concept of being 'antifragile' captures how to benefit from randomness. Acknowledging luck's role promotes: gratitude, humility, less judgment of those less fortunate, and strategic positioning for fortunate circumstances.
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