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Position and Surface Area of Luck

Position and Surface Area of Luck

Increasing Luck and Success 🚀

November 30, 2023

Luck:

Positioning for

&

Surface Area of

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You’ve heard of the three rules of real estate: “Location. Location. Location.” I’ve got a new one for you. There are three rules for success: “Position. Position. Position.” In this insights newsletter, I hope to reshape how you think success and even luck occur in your life. It is an important message that I encourage you to share with others.

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What’s Luck Got To Do With It?

People say, “The harder you work the luckier you get.” But does the simplicity of this statement hide the truth?

I was recently watching an interview of a successful businessman who said the exact opposite; he stated, “The less I work, the richer I get.” He admitted the secret sauce. It's one of my favorite pieces of advice which is to “working on your business” instead of “in your business,” which isn't necessarily less work. It's just different work.

Others have described luck as “Opportunity meeting preparation,” which simplifies without providing actionable tactics and strategies.

Let’s dive into all this. How do we increase our luck and find greater and greater success? Here are two aspects: Position and Surface Area.

Factor 1: Position

In real estate there are three rules: Location. Location. Location.

In success there are three rules: Position. Position. Position.

What do I mean by position?

Position is the sum of all your preparation and resources to be:

in the right place,

at the right time,

with the right resources,

the right knowledge,

and full awareness

to take advantage of any opportunity.

I emphasize any opportunity because you do not know what will come your way. This also differentiates Position from Preparation.

Preparation is a form of positioning when you know what the future holds. Like preparing for the big tennis match this weekend or getting a good night's sleep before your TV show appearance. You put yourself in a good position to win when you prepare for that known future.

However, you cannot possibly know everything that will happen for you in the future. You need to be prepared for a multitude of possibilities. That’s where position comes in – preparing for a multitude of possible futures.

This type of Position with a capital P allows you to be swept up by the big waves of many possible opportunities. It is like being someone (or a llama) not knowing exactly why they want to become a surfer, but nonetheless they buy the right board, seek out the right wave set, train to have the right strength to paddle in, they maximize their knowledge and know-how to ride, and pick the right time and place to be ready for the big wave to come. And then the big wave comes, and they ride it to huge success.

Without any of those conditions met, they can’t ride the big wave. They miss it for lack of strength for the paddle in or being too far down the beach in the wrong spot to catch the big one. Their timing may be way off on paddling in, even if they are in the right place with the right level of strength. They may have the wrong type of board to ride.

All this is Position with capital P.

The same thing happens in life and in business. For instance, in startups and in business if you enter the market too early or too late. Even with the right product, you can still miss a big wave of growth. If you are undercapitalized or resourced, it doesn’t matter if you have the right timing and product. In life this happens when a new role opens, and you lack the knowledge and skills for the job even though it fits you in the way of purpose and passion.

Preparation isn’t sufficient anymore. Brilliance may enable you to get into the big dance and even win for a moment, but in the end having the right positioning on all fronts wins.

You may not know what you are positioning yourself for in the future, but it is important that you are preparing now for those unknown opportunities. As of late even for myself I feel like I’m putting in the work and sharping things up because I suspect sometime in the future I’ll be needed, and I will want to be able to fulfill that unmet need. I call it “coiling the spring.” I’m creating a lot of potential that I could unleash at the right place and right time (aka being in the right Position). I’m preparing to be in the right position for the unknown wave that I think I will need to ride in the future.

We should all be preparing to be in the right position for something ahead.

Factor 2: Surface Area

There are two surface areas of note here. There is the surface area of luck and the surface area of distraction. Which one is larger in your life?

Surface Area of Distraction

When there are more potential things that could be distracting, I suspect you will be more distracted. That net is catching all sorts of things that are bogging you down and even dragging you down. You want that surface area to be as small as possible.

I’ve talked about “lesser goals” in the past and we all know the things that should be on our “not do” lists. Also note how predictability of time and habits lowers the surface area of distraction.

Surface Area of Luck

The surface area of luck, this is the net that you want as big as possible so that you can capture and utilize luck. So how do we increase the surface area of luck?

Being able to identify lucky things helps a lot. Luck isn’t so much like lightening striking but the wind blowing all around us. Sometimes it is strong. Sometimes it is weak. Other times it is coming from a direction we didn’t expect. However, if we have the right sail with a large enough surface area, we can capture this force in our lives.

The ways to increase the surface area of luck are many including the following:

Growth in your knowledge base as well as what you have learned from reflecting on the past.
Goal orientation increases your surface area of luck. What you focus on expands. So, for instance, if you want to increase the chances of landing a book deal, focusing on your writing would increase the surface area of your luck there.
You increase the surface area of your luck by also connecting with more people.
You are what you tell the world about yourself and where you are going. You increase your luck by communicating your goals and dreams to others. The more people bought into your goals and dreams the more people can direct resources and opportunities your way.
You must act and be on the lookout for lucky circumstances.
Diversifying your experiences and locations broadens opportunities where you may encounter favorable circumstances.
Optimism helps because you need a willingness to take risks and try new things. Those who are willing to continuously experiment and try new things will increase their surface area of luck.
Taking an inventory of your resources also increases your luck by helping you realize that you have everything you need to move forward already.

All of these can help you increase the surface area of luck in your life. There are certainly other ways too.