People really underestimate the amount of work that has to be done behind closed doors.
But once you gain momentum, they call it "luck". The fate of a moving man is never decided in hindsight.
(My Matutine Musings)
A moving man is someone who finds his luck by lurking around and doing things.
In a more verbose context:
A moving man sits at the intersection of serendipity and spontaneity. To explain this, I'll reference the work of Bahcall:
He calls it "phase transitions in human networks." When you're stationary, your probability of a lucky event is limited to your existing surface area: the people you already know, the places you already go, the ideas you've already been exposed to. Your opportunity window is fixed.
When you move, your collision rate with new nodes in a network increases nonlinearly. Double your movement (new conversations, new cities, new projects) and your probability of a serendipitous encounter doesn't double. It roughly quadruples. Because each new node connects you to their entire network, not just to them.
Luck isn't random. Luck is surface area. And surface area is a function of movement.
But let us dig deeper into "Motion" itself:
Isaac Newton proposed three laws of motion in classical mechanics;
i. Law of inertia ii. Law of acceleration iii. Action-Reaction Law
Remember, Force is a product of mass (body) and acceleration.
Using the Newtonian metaphor:
• Inertia = staying in your comfort zone.
• Force = taking initiative.
• Acceleration = building momentum.
• Action and reaction = every effort generates feedback, connections, or new possibilities.
From Newton's First Law, you could say:
"A person in motion tends to stay in motion; a person taking action tends to encounter opportunities."
Spontaneity turns into sustained action.
Now to rephrase: "At the intersection of serendipity and sustained action, luck finds those who remain in motion."
From Newton's Second Law, you can also deduct that:
"Luck is often the byproduct of momentum. The more you move, experiment, and engage with the world, the more opportunities have a chance to collide with you."
To use Newton's third law in a similar sense:
"A moving person meets their luck because motion increases the probability of meaningful collisions with opportunity."
My conclusive theory is that: "At the intersection of serendipity and spontaneity, luck meets those who lurk around and keep doing things."
(Probably should've made this an article)
Understand: Consistency beats intensity. Intensity fades fast, consistency compounds. The consistent man will find momentum. And this momentum will triple his intensity. So much so, he’ll experience exponential growth.
By then, the intense man would already be too sore
Unable to catch up
This is the difference btw SWE and so-called vibecoders.
The first thing I did after vibecoding my portfolio site was to integrate Lovable with my GitHub account.
But those who know nothing about commits and version control won't understand where you are coming from.
Building your entire application infrastructure on Lovable is a trap.
Use it for your UI.
Deploy your Db elsewhere.
Deploy your backend elsewhere.
That’s how you own your application.
Don’t build on a rented land….
I actually think a lot of what is attributed to intelligence is probably just interest.
You will do something a lot better than another individual if you're more interested in it, which leads to you giving it more time.
Even if they are actually smarter than you.
I also believe creativity can be learnt and cultivated. But engineering intelligence is a different ballgame on it's own, or so I think.
This resonates deeply. Nobody has it all figured out but those who keep showing up eventually build competence and confidence over time.
This is something you realize when you work alongside stakeholders and industry leaders. Your moat is not just about the skills you possess but how you sell yourself.
Thanks for sharing this thought-provoking reminder.👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
The grind turns into gratification with time.
Celebrate the small wins but keep your eyes on the bigger picture. Stay focused. At the end of every distraction is an "action" waiting to be taken.
Distraction => Traction => Action.
A moving man will meet his luck, as long as he never stops.