How to Create Your Own Luck
🍀 Lucky GIrl Syndrome
Happy St Patrick’s Day!
I’m about 75% Irish, and growing up, I heard all kinds of weird superstitions about luck-both making your own and avoiding bad luck.
One that stuck with me? Never put shoes on the table. My mom swore it was bad luck. I still follow that rule today, whether for luck or just common sense….shoes are gross, and tables are for eating.
But today, I want to talk about creating your own luck in this chaotic world.
People have debated forever whether success comes from willpower or luck. I don’t think it’s either/or. I see success as a mix of both. What you can control is your effort and how prepared you are when luck shows up. If you're not ready, you can’t take advantage of it.
I recently read The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness. While I love Naval Ravikant, I wouldn’t recommend buying the book for one reason: the format. It’s just a Q&A between him and the writer, Eric Jorgenson, which feels low-effort.
As a writer, I’d happily do a Q&A-style Substack for you all. In fact, I recently did which you can enjoy here. But I wouldn’t charge the price of a book for it.
Overall a passage on his defined types of luck really stuck with me. Going over these helped me better understand how different kinds of effort and circumstances influence success. I wanted to share them with you!
1. Blind Luck (Pure Chance)
This is luck you have no control over, it just happens. Winning the lottery, being born into wealth, or stumbling upon an opportunity by complete accident all fall into this category. It’s random, unpredictable, and not something you can rely on.
2. Luck from Motion (Creating Opportunities)
This type of luck comes from taking action and putting yourself in motion. The more you do, the more chances you create for luck to find you. Think of networking, experimenting with new ideas, or constantly putting yourself in situations where unexpected opportunities can arise.
🍀 Example: A musician who plays gigs everywhere might randomly meet a producer who changes their career. If they had stayed home, that luck wouldn’t have happened.
3. Luck from Awareness (Recognizing Opportunities)
Some people spot opportunities that others miss because they’ve trained themselves to be aware. This kind of luck happens when you have deep knowledge or insight in a specific area, allowing you to recognize and capitalize on opportunities others overlook.
🍀 Example: A skilled investor sees a business undervalued by the market and invests before others catch on.
4. Luck from Uniqueness (Becoming the Opportunity)
This is when you cultivate such a unique skill set, reputation, or way of thinking that luck finds you. People actively seek you out for your expertise, and opportunities naturally come your way because of what you’ve built.
🍀 Example: A niche expert in a rare field doesn’t have to chase job offers, they come to them because of their reputation.
My Own Luck
I constantly take advantage of Luck from Motion, Awareness, and Uniqueness. But I had to build the momentum in order ot be able to take advantage of these luck types today.
Here’s how I leveraged these types of luck over time:
Luck from Awareness
I had my own frustrations with corporate America, but as an overachiever, I saw an opportunity in being critical of it. In 2020-2021, I realized no one online had the exact anti-work stance I was developing. That awareness helped me identify my next career move.
Luck from Motion
I started relentlessly creating content…most of it flopped. But I kept going, refining my ideas through engagement, whether from supporters or haters. The feedback loop helped me sharpen my message, and over time, my content gained traction. A community began forming around these ideas.
Luck from Uniqueness
Eventually, opportunities started coming to me-business ideas, brand deals, media features, valuable connections. My work was becoming its own ecosystem. This is where outsiders assume I “blew up overnight,” completely overlooking steps one and two, which can take years.
Now, I keep setting myself up for more Luck from Uniqueness. I constantly evaluate my impact and how I can better serve my community. Where can I be more specific? More educational? What’s a major issue no one is talking about yet? Every time I step into these questions with courage, the rewards come tenfold. I get meet people my past self would have fan-girled over or effortlessly achieve dreams I’ve had for years.
Blind Luck & Perspective
Yes, we’re all “lucky” to some extent. And at the same time luck requires participation. And it doesn’t show up equally for everyone.
I reflect on my own blind luck often: I was born with a functioning body (except for my right eye, but it barely affects my life). I was born in America, where I can open a business account, marry (or not), start a business, get a job, buy a house, move anywhere, and speak freely. Technology lets me connect with anyone, anywhere.
I could focus on all the ways I am not lucky too. Personally, I have never heard a quotation from a successful person who has the life that I want that’s said something along the times of “I gained my success by focusing all day on what isn’t working out for me”. But if you know someone who has that I am ignorant on, be my guest and enjoy that quote!
We’re all extremely lucky in some ways! And at the same time, we have the power to create even more luck. And at the same time if you compare yourself to someone else’s luck you can also tell yourself you are not lucky compared to them.
It’s all choice. We decide our realities.
And, unfortunately, luck definitely takes more than not putting your shoes on the table. Dang, my Irish ancestors are probably pretty let down hearing this hahah.