CONTEXT

“In 1,000 parallel universes, you want to be wealthy in 999 of them. You don’t want to be wealthy in the 50 of them where you got lucky.” — Naval Ravikant

Naval believes making money isn’t about blind luck.

In this epic blog post, he says that if he lost all his money and was dropped on a random street in any English-speaking country… “I’d like to think that within 5-10 years I’d be wealthy again. Because it’s a skill set that I’ve developed and I think anyone can develop.”

Mark Andreessen similarly believes in making your own luck. He was the first to popularize the “4 kinds of luck” theory with entrepreneurs. (Btw, this theory is from the book Chase, Chance, and Creativity.)

Let’s dive in…

When most people think of luck, they’re usually referring to “blind luck.”

Pure chance. Fortune. Fate. For example: where you were born, who your parents are, having good genes, etc.

This kind of luck is 100% out of your control. But there are 3 other types that you can control. Yes, really. 

Here’s how to increase your “luck surface area” for the rest of 2023:

THE 3 TYPES OF LUCK

1. Luck from hustling

This luck comes from persistence, hard work, and a bias towards action (vs. overthinking).

Example: A salesperson emails hundreds of prospects so that a few will respond and buy.

Actions:

• Say yes to more things. Introduce yourself to new people. Set outreach quotas for yourself. Don’t wait for the “perfect time.”

• Overcome imposter syndrome. I know this is easier said than done. (If you’re curious how I overcame it, I shared the specific ways I leveraged AI in this Forbes article last month.)

2. Luck from preparation

If you’re super experienced in a field, you’ll notice when a lucky break happens. (And other people who aren’t as skilled won’t see the opportunity).

Example: A venture capitalist invests early in a startup that becomes a unicorn. All the investors who passed on it become super jealous.

Actions:

• Increase your knowledge, skill, and expertise in a field. The more experienced you are, the more likely you’ll be to predict lucky breaks.

• Still deciding exactly what you want to be a subject matter in? Here’s a 3-step exercise that I wrote about in a viral post. Many people told me it changed their lives. 🥹

3. Luck from your unique brand

Ok, this is the hardest form of luck, because you need to become the best in a specific niche. Like, better than 95% of people in that industry. But once you establish that? Luck will start to find you.

Example: A podcast host becomes so well-known and respected that dream guests ask to be on the show.

Actions: 

• Keep redefining and narrowing your specific niche until you know you can be the best in the world at it. Make your brand unique.

• This illustration from Visualize Value perfectly describes what we’re talking about. It was my laptop screensaver for a while.

WHY IT WORKS

If you only take one thing away from today’s newsletter, it’s this:

Blind luck might be out of your control. But the other 3 are up to you:

1. Hustle to create opportunities.

2. Be prepared to recognize opportunities that others will miss.

3. Build a unique brand to attract opportunities.

(And I highly recommend listening to this 5-minute podcast clip where Naval explains how to become the kind of person who makes money rather than waiting for a lucky break).

Until next week,

Jade

P.S. Still trying to define the niche that you could be world-class in? Book a coaching session with me and I’ll share exactly how I came up with The Quiet Rich, and how I grew my LinkedIn audience from 1k - 200k in 8 months.

Learn more and read tons of client reviews here. (Spots are filling up. Only 10 dates are still available in November). 🔥

And just want to say a warm thank you to everyone who’s part of The Quiet Rich family. If you just joined last week, learn more about us here. 🎉

Random side note— many of you have been asking about which newsletter tool I recommend. I’m clearly a fan of Beehiiv! I’ve found it to be the least expensive option, and it gives phenomenal analytics.