Seven Ways To Increase Your Luck
By: Joe Eames
Tags: Productivity, Webdev, Change, Impact

A friend of mine I play dungeons and dragons with likes to take his 20-sided dice and set them all together with the 20 sides facing up. When I asked him about this he told me that he’s “teaching them where their home is”. I’m fairly skeptical that his efforts are producing any increase in luck when rolling to kill skeletons and orcs.

But there ARE ways to get more “20's” in life.

Here are 7 methods to be a luckier person. Yes, you read right. You can truly increase your luck.

Now, before you get too antsy here, nothing I’m talking about will help you out at the craps tables or the roulette wheel (those things will actually reduce the kind of luck I’m talking about).

Although I’m going to show you seven methods to increase your luck, they all boil down to one concept…but before we lay it out, let’s discuss the concept of luck.

Photos by Derek Howard

As I mentioned previously, luck is often reduced to mere chance. But consider the truly lucky individuals you know…those you would consider to be fortunate people. They probably didn’t win the lottery (if you think lottery winners are lucky, just read about the effects of winning the lottery). So what did happen to them?

In simple terms, opportunity came knocking, and they were ready and opened the door. I have a friend who is a successful business owner and a successful venture capitalist. His initial success was when a brother of his came to him with a problem: he was having trouble dealing with shipping refunds in his job. He asked my friend — his brother — for help. My friend was able to leverage both his programming skills, and some business acumen, and created a successful company that years later he sold for a very tidy sum.

So where did his luck come from? The answer is simple: preparation. He had the skills, desire, and time to execute when opportunity came. He had prepared himself. He didn’t know this specific opportunity was going to come, but he prepared for it nonetheless.

So how can YOU be more lucky?

Luck actually happens to us all the time. Opportunities will come by our door time and time again. It happens so often nobody can truly use all the luck they get. Luck is more like a river of fortune flowing by us, and we simply need to create our “bucket” that we can dip into this river so that we can retrieve some of that luck.

Luck is being able to execute on the opportunities we receive. If you don’t have the time, the skill, or the money to execute, then you won’t be able to take advantage of the “luck”. That is why you must habitually prepare yourself, creating your “bucket”, so that you are ready to scoop up some of that limitless luck that passes by every day.

This may or may not seem ridiculous to you, but I truly guarantee that you can create more luck, and therefore more opportunity in your life using these methods I’m going to outline.

Let’s get to our seven ways to make you a lucky person.

Method 1: Saving Money

This one is simple enough. Money in the bank can be used to take advantage of opportunities. No matter the amount of money, some opportunities will come that will only be possible if you have money to use. Some require a little, some require a lot. But there are inevitably opportunities for any amount. So whether you save up $10 or $1,000,000 you will benefit by having that money ready for the right piece of luck to cross your doorstep.

Method 2: Learning

Knowledge truly is power. Any knowledge you gain will make you luckier. Some learning has to be directly acquired, some can be acquired from the wisdom and experience of others. But regardless of the source, skills and knowledge give you the ability to execute on opportunities and discern “luck” from scams.

Method 3: Engaging with Others

As an introvert, I can attest to the value of meeting and engaging with people. Some of the biggest occurrences of “luck” in my life have happened from talking with others, meeting new people, or simply engaging with someone in a real conversation. Essentially this means not hiding in your phone. Recently my chiropractor gave me invaluable advice and knowledge, at the exact time I needed it, in the four minute window I was with him, simply because I engaged with him, asking him about things that mattered.

Method 4: Reliably Helping People

Some of the most bountiful luck that will come your way will come because you selflessly help other people. Donate. Volunteer. Organize. Teach. Tutor. No matter what you do, if you do it simply for the benefit of others, it will come back to you one hundredfold. But you must do it selflessly, and you must be reliable. I know the selfless part seems weird when discussing how to be “luckier” but it truly matters. Give because the other person/people benefit, not because you hope to benefit. For more information, read “The Go Giver”.

Method 5: Say No

Don’t overextend yourself. And don’t do things you aren’t passionate about. My favorite guideline here is this: If it’s not a ‘hell yes’ then it’s a ‘hell no’.

Method 6: Create when Nobody Cares

I’ve written about this in the past. Create (no matter what that means to you) while nobody cares. Write when nobody is reading your novels. Compose when nobody is listening to your music. Program when nobody is paying for your code. Paint when nobody wants your art. Keep it up consistently. This is the law of compound interest. No single work will likely be the one that causes the tipping point, but slowly people will start caring about what you’re creating.

Method 7: Do Things You’re Not Paid To Do

This is closely related to the last two points. But do the stuff nobody is paying you to do. This is the most valuable stuff you can do. Organize meetups. Write blogs. Contribute to Open Source. Whatever it is, don’t demand that someone pay you before you’ll work. That’s like demanding the fire to give off more heat before you’ll put wood on it.

These are my seven methods to create luck. Do they work? Absolutely. Every “lucky” person does most if not all of these consistently. Those you think are “lucky” who don’t do these things will almost always prove to not be nearly as “lucky” if you actually peel back the facade they put out.

Life is anxious to give you good things, you just have to ask the right way.

What luck have you seen in your own life? What preparation was behind that luck?

Happy coding!

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