I’ve figured out how to consistently get lucky. It all comes back to something most people call serendipity.
Serendipity is a strange concept. It's hard to define. Despite being vague, I think almost everyone has experienced a time where serendipity was at play. You can’t make serendipity — but you can put yourself in situations where it is likely to find you. These are the moments where we find opportunities. A new friendship… an opportunity for a new job… an unexpected business proposition. There is always a useful happenstance.
So how do you attract serendipity? How do you become someone who regularly gets lucky?
Serendipity is linked to adversity. The more resilient you can make yourself — the more immune you become to the setbacks. This lets the serendipitous things come through more often. Sometimes, things that feel really negative at the time have positive downstream outcomes that we couldn’t or didn’t want to anticipate. It’s hard to spot serendipity in the moment. Hindsight is 20/20, and so it’s easy to point to the seminal events in our pasts. But when we experience them first-hand, most people push away from situations where serendipity is hiding. Instead of turning away from the bad, lean into it.
Similarly, become comfortable putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. No one ever had a profound serendipitous event happen while they watched Netflix from their couch. The most important actions never happen without a little bit of fear. Overcoming this anxiety and resistance to change is like a muscle — the more you exercise it, the stronger you become.
Sometimes it’s about following your gut. There is something about human intuition which has been honed by evolution for millennia that tells you valuable information about any situation.
Make more decisions for yourself and others. Don’t let paralysis by analysis waste your time. Look at all the available data and be logical in your decision making. But after a certain point, it’s not helping you any more to micro-analyze details. Learning by doing is good. When in doubt? Send the jump. Kiss the girl. Even if it doesn’t work out in your favour, you’ve learned something you couldn’t have through research.
Don’t underestimate people. You never know who could be the source of your next serendipitous moment. Let go of your sense of entitlement as it will blind you to perspectives you’ve never looked at. Every new conversation is an opportunity to learn.
Go with the flow. Let go of the need for complete control. You’ll never be able to control a situation fully anyways — learn to adapt and make the most of things. Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you can instead of craving control over what you can’t.
Maintain an optimistic outlook on the world in spite of everything. Life is too short to be constantly outraged and pessimistic. Positivity attracts positivity. Serendipity will find you if you expect it. Go be positive and chase serendipity.