FEMI TAIWO ON MONDAY: Enhancing Serendipity: First Principle of Increasing Your Luck in Life

Michael Oluwafemi Taiwo, Ph.D

In the introduction to this series, I gave out some “homework” I called the first lesson in Luck School. The task was that you should go out and meet four new people in two weeks. If you did so you have uncovered a powerful principle in the way lucky people operate. The principle is this: lucky people create, recognize and respond to the chance opportunities in their lives.

Lucky people build and maintain a large network. They go out of their way to meet new people. They join a new club or initiate conversations with people they meet in a shop or at parties. By meeting a large number of people, they increase the chances that they will meet either the spouse of their dreams, or the person that will lead them to their next job or a lifelong friend. Research shows that we know at least 300 people on a first-name basis. [Thanks to social media, I did a little experiment of my own a while back and found this figure to be conservative. In my experience, I found that I knew at least 1,000 people on a first-name basis.] So if you meet just one individual today, it means you are only a handshake away from meeting the 300+ people this person knows and two handshakes away from meeting 300 x 300 or 90,000+ people. It’s a numbers game. What is the probability that the answer you are looking for can be found in those over 90, 000 people? I don’t know. But I do know this: the probability, whatever it is, is 90,000 times higher than if you don’t meet that new person and all you need is that one big break.  I have written before about how we all are interconnected by six degrees of separation. This powerful luck principle of creating chance opportunities taps directly into that concept.

This is also why it appears that hardworking people are usually lucky. Imagine if an undertaking has a 10% chance of success. This means that, roughly speaking, if you try ten times, you will succeed once. And all you need is that one successful outcome. Lucky people persist, so they are typically the type of people that will try ten times even though they know they will fail 90% of the time.

Lucky people exhibit the type of body language and facial expressions that other people find attractive and inviting. They display what psychologists call “open” body language like smiling, fully facing the person they are talking with and maintaining healthy eye contact. Not only do they attract people but they also keep in touch. If you don’t use your network, you lose your network. Every once in a while, I ask people I’ve met for a little favor or a quick question. The reason I contact them is not because I’m helpless and I need them to bail me out. I do that to “refresh” our relationship and keep it active.  Lucky people make it a point to engage others and keep that connection.

Another principle of luck is to recognize chance opportunities. We are usually unaware of the unique opportunities that surround us because we are too focused on something else. We are rushing to work or to school or to the market. Lucky people have a relaxed attitude to life. Because they are relaxed, their senses are more acute and aware and they pick up on the signals around. They notice the bystander looking for help and strike a conversation, they notice the advert for job placement, they discover things that people who are always rushing somewhere won’t. You see far more when you are not trying to look for anything in particular. Not only do lucky people create more chance opportunities, they also notice them far more than most.

Lucky people love new experiences. They take a new route to work or to school; they join a new club; they visit a new restaurant. They break up their routine. They are comfortable with unpredictability. All these new or random experiences introduce the potential for new opportunities.

No one is born lucky or unlucky. The difference is that often without realizing it, lucky people act in a way that increases their options, they notice their chance moments and they act upon these random opportunities they have either created or simply noticed. It’s a probability game. And, all you need is that one big break.

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