“I was lucky”.

“Sometimes people get lucky”.

“It requires some luck”.

What usually happens

People often use the word “luck” to describe when a desirable situation presents itself despite being perceived as less probable. It’s like a sudden, mysterious four leaf clover suddenly shone light upon them.

if something bad happens, they lament and say they’re “unlucky”, the lucky light rays are apparently shining elsewhere.

But as far as I can tell, there is no known force in the universe known as “luck”. Luck is just a human emotion. It describes how we feel there was a low chance of this positive development happening, but now the stars have aligned and it worked out.

A system

I think you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage if you’re relying on hope or “pure luck” when you’re trying to achieve a certain outcome in life.

Applying some sort of rule or system to understanding the world has seen more success with physics. But this entry isn’t about explaining metaphysical or scientific theories.

Rather, for our purposes it would be better to simply borrow a useful frame of mind. this: “It’s useful to think in terms of probability”.

Life is just a series of different probabilities.

You likely don't have all the variables and data to know the exact probabilities, but you might be able to estimate them to a certain degree by simplifying problems.

For example, if you’d like to meet a life partner, you can increase the chance of finding a good match by meeting more people.

And you can make sure you meet the right people by focusing on a place where they share your interests or level of understanding. and you can increase the chances by looking where you think they might hang out.

Of course, there are mathematical frameworks that show that there is a point where you can stop meeting people and your results won't get better, called diminishing returns. (check needed).

But you don't even need to worry about the exact math in order to benefit from probabilistic thinking. just know that it's there, and it works.

Therefore, “making your own luck” is a good way of thinking that will usually work.

you tip the chances in your favor when you are disciplined and get into the habit of showing up.

you increase the probability of success by combining some estimated probabilities together, decide on some actions and then execute consistently based on that.

you might stay away from trying to win at the lottery, since the probability of winning is super low and probably a waste of your time.

just don't use “they are luckier than me” as an excuse.

to quote Ben Franklin, “Diligence is the mother of good luck.”