How to Create More Luck:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 are in the room, talk less and listen more. Bad for ego, great for luck.
Good things tend to happen in these rooms.
4. Talk to Strangers
"Don't talk to strangers" is a classic we are told as children—the residue of which carries into adulthood.
New relationships spark new ideas, insights, and opportunities—these compound just as well as any financial investment.
Broad Network = Broad Luck
5. Send More Cold Emails
Cold emails are responsible for some of my biggest breaks in my life—new mentors, relationships, and career opportunities.
Cold emails are a force multiplier for your efforts.
Follow the principles below to enhance your odds of success.
Shooters shoot.
6. Schedule Free Time
The idea that free time is bad is one of the greatest lies you’ve been told.
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.
7. Hang Out With Optimists
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.
Remember: Pessimists sound smart, optimists get rich.
8. 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—cut the damn line.
Negative people are the anti-luck.
9. 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—cut the damn line.
Negative people are the anti-luck.
10. 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.
11. Hustle Hard
When you have a bias for motion, good things happen.
You create more random collisions in your ecosystems—chaos theory.
"You’re doing a lot to stir things up...enough force, hustle, and energy for luck to find you." -naval
A bit of hustle goes a long way.
12. Trust the Weekend Test
"What the smartest people do on the weekend is is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years." - cdixon
Observe the weekend projects of the smartest people in your circles.
These are a looking glass into the future.
Make asymmetric bets.
13. Create Value Without Expectations
The best things in life come to those who create value with no expectation of a return.
I don't know how it happens, but when you put out good energy, it tends to come back to you—multiplied.
Be genuine. Create value. Good things will happen.
14. Put Skin in the Game
I have a rule: Once I've heard about something from 3 smart friends, I put some skin in the game with a bit of $$$.
This forces me to dive deeper.
Sometimes I learn more and fold; more often I learn more and double down.
Small bets with outsized returns.
15. Get Out & Engage
It’s hard to get lucky watching Netflix at home.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 are in the room, talk less and listen more. Bad for ego, great for luck.
Good things tend to happen in these rooms.
4. Talk to Strangers
"Don't talk to strangers" is a classic we are told as children—the residue of which carries into adulthood.
New relationships spark new ideas, insights, and opportunities—these compound just as well as any financial investment.
Broad Network = Broad Luck
5. Send More Cold Emails
Cold emails are responsible for some of my biggest breaks in my life—new mentors, relationships, and career opportunities.
Cold emails are a force multiplier for your efforts.
Follow the principles below to enhance your odds of success.
Shooters shoot.
6. Schedule Free Time
The idea that free time is bad is one of the greatest lies you’ve been told.
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.
7. Hang Out With Optimists
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.
Remember: Pessimists sound smart, optimists get rich.
8. 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—cut the damn line.
Negative people are the anti-luck.
9. 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—cut the damn line.
Negative people are the anti-luck.
10. 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.
11. Hustle Hard
When you have a bias for motion, good things happen.
You create more random collisions in your ecosystems—chaos theory.
"You’re doing a lot to stir things up...enough force, hustle, and energy for luck to find you." -naval
A bit of hustle goes a long way.
12. Trust the Weekend Test
"What the smartest people do on the weekend is is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years." - cdixon
Observe the weekend projects of the smartest people in your circles.
These are a looking glass into the future.
Make asymmetric bets.
13. Create Value Without Expectations
The best things in life come to those who create value with no expectation of a return.
I don't know how it happens, but when you put out good energy, it tends to come back to you—multiplied.
Be genuine. Create value. Good things will happen.
14. Put Skin in the Game
I have a rule: Once I've heard about something from 3 smart friends, I put some skin in the game with a bit of $$$.
This forces me to dive deeper.
Sometimes I learn more and fold; more often I learn more and double down.
Small bets with outsized returns.
15. Get Out & Engage
It’s hard to get lucky watching Netflix at home.