6 Ways to Make Yourself Luckier
From a pretty lucky guy
August 11, 2022: Greetings from Long Island, New York.
Last week, I visited my grandparents in Maine. It’s well known for it’s lobster so I ate some despite my reservations about seafood.
Also, I’ve been reading a great book called Never Split the Difference. If you want to improve your communication skills, it’s is a must-read.
How to Make Yourself Luckier
Read time 5 minutes
Today, I’m going to show you how to make yourself luckier.
Some people believe luck is fixed. Others believe luck is mere superstition:
But since it’s almost taboo to talk about luck, especially in a society that preaches hard work determines success, many of us never take steps to increase our “luck.”
Here’s how to make yourself luckier
Step 1: Put Yourself in the Room
If you put yourself in the room, you increase your chance of making connections and discovering important information.
This is especially true if you have above-average social skills.
For example, Last spring, my friend Wolfgang invited me to a Bach Symphony concert. I almost didn't go because I had a living crisis (I was two days away from being homeless or living in a contaminated room), but at the concert, his friend Christian offered me his guest room for the month.
Just like that, my crisis was solved.
Step 2: Learn an In-Demand Skill
When you learn multiple talents, especially complementary talents, you explode your options.
For example, if you are a software engineer but combine your programming skills with public speaking, you automatically become a better management candidate. More skills = more opportunities.
And since learning how to write, I’ve spoken with millionaires, CEOs, and influencers with 1m+ followers, all because I have something to offer them.
Step 3: Dress for Success
Dressing for Success is the easiest thing you can do to become luckier because it will make you feel more confident, and people will take you more seriously. This starts a powerful positive feedback loop.
But imagine you're wearing sweatpants and a stained hoody and bump into the love of your life. Perhaps you can still win her over, but you'd be in a better spot if you'd groomed yourself well in the morning.
Dress like you have a job interview every day, and you’ll instantly become luckier.
Step 4: Ask Quality Questions
Asking quality questions is an art.
If you know how to ask questions, people will like talking to you and will go out of their way to help you.
Quality questions usually:
Are related to the other person or their expertise.
Are open-ended.
How did you choose your career?
What’s a skill you wish you learned earlier in your career?
Help you learn something new.
Step 5: Create Local Star Power
This is an idea from “Pitch Anything”
Have you ever had a friend who outshines you everywhere you go?
You walk into the room, and everyone stops what they’re doing to say hello to him or her. Well, they have local star power. You don’t have to be a celebrity at MSG to be a celebrity in your local environment.
Here’s how you can create it:
Frequent the same establishment repeatedly
Learn everyone’s names
Greet them every time with their names and be generally friendly
For example, in Konstanz, Germany, I went to the same cafe to read and write almost every day. And every time I walked in 2-3 people said hi to me immediately.
Imagine the impression that gave other people.
Step 6: Be in Top Physical Shape
When I was out of shape, I suffered from low energy.
For most of college, I didn’t go to the gym ever. And I simply didn’t have the energy to pounce on “lucky” opportunities the way I do now.
Step 6: Believe you are luckier
Real psychological studies suggest you can make yourself “luckier” simply by believing you are luckier:
In another study, two groups were asked to count how many photos were in a newspaper. The first group self-identified as "lucky" while the control group self-identified as "unlucky." On average, the "lucky" group finished the task astonishingly faster, mere seconds to minutes.
How did they do it?
They were more likely to discover the message on page two, "There are X photos; stop counting now." (Example from Cialdini’s Influence)
So after I read that, I decided to be lucky. And it feels like it works…
Those were 6 ways to make yourself luckier.
What else would you add?