Why aren't we "luckier?"

LV recounted to me a fascinating story the other. She had put out a whimsical but highly technical Tweet, which got a reply by a rather prominent professor. That led in turn to her being followed by another interesting fellow in her field.

As “Luck” would have had that she bumped into that new follower the next day. This was completely chance; he lives in a different city, works in a different company and there was no way that their paths would have intersected had she been a few minutes earlier or later to her schedule.

It was all very serendipitous and in fact the chap invited LV to get in touch with him about a few things that she had been looking into but hitherto hadn’t really applied to.

This reminded of a rather classic example of “Luck Surface Area”, which I learnt from the inimitable Sahil Bloom.

We are always think of ourselves as being the subject of events; we’re lucky or we’re not. But more often than not, we actually do “make our own luck.”

However it’s a process that is so subliminal, layered deep into our subconscious, so as to be invisible. Here is the Luck Surface Area:

I’ll summarise it for you but “Luck” is essentially an outcome of “how much you do” and “how much you talk about it”. The more you do both of that then it so happens that it causes a deep exponential ripple.

Finally I’ve stolen this graphic from Sahil B. and I really do try being the dumbest one in the room; though I have the consolation of being married/partnered to someone so manifestly intellectually and holistically superior to myself that I am always the dumbest/inferior in the room for the rest of my life :)