A cheat code I wish I knew at 18...
The 4 Types of Luck:
In 1978, a neurologist named Dr. James Austin published a book entitled Chase, Chance, & Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty.
In it, he proposed that there are 4 types of luck:
(1) Blind Luck
(2) Luck from Motion
(3) Luck from Awareness
(4) Luck from Uniqueness
Here's what they are:
Type 1: Blind Luck
Completely out of your control:
• Where you are born
• Who you are born to
• Base circumstances of your life
• "Acts of God"
These are the truly random occurrences of the universe.
Type 2: Luck from Motion
You’re creating motion and collisions through hustle and energy that you are inserting into an ecosystem.
You increase your luck surface area through simple movement.
The increase in collisions opens you up to more lucky events.
Type 3: Luck from Awareness
Depth of understanding within a given arena allows you to become very good at positioning yourself for lucky breaks.
Naval says: "You become very good at spotting luck."
You can “spot luck” from a mile away because of your knowledge and experience.
Type 4: Luck from Uniqueness
Your unique set of attributes attracts specific luck to you.
“[This type] favors those with distinctive, if not eccentric hobbies, personal lifestyles, and motor behaviors.” - Dr. James Austin
Type 4 Luck actually seeks you out.
The Stages of Luck
I personally think of Types 1-3 as coming in stages as you grow up:
• Type 1 dictates your early years
• Type 2 as you hustle in your 20
• Type 3 as you gain experience in your 30s+
Type 4 is unique—it’s dislocated from age.
Always remember the Luck Razor:
When choosing between two paths, choose the path that has a larger LUCK SURFACE AREA.
Your actions put you in a position where luck is more likely to strike.
It’s hard to get lucky watching TV at home—it’s easy to get lucky when you’re engaging and learning.
There are lots of simple ways to increase your luck surface area:
• Talk to more new people
• Send more cold emails
• Write/share in public
• Participate in digital communities
• Spend time in rooms where you feel like the dumb one
To recap the 4 types of luck:
• Type 1: Blind Luck
• Type 2: Luck from Motion
• Type 3: Luck from Awareness
• Type 4: Luck from Uniqueness
If you enjoyed this and learned something new, follow me @SahilBloom for more in the future!
15. Having hard conversations. A ton of regret comes from not saying what needs to be said. The harder the conversation the easier life becomes.
16. Saving & investing. I want to set my family up for when I pass away. Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. Use it.
5. I'm investing in my relationship with my wife every single day. We're partners in life & the grass is always greener where you water it.
6. I'm investing in community & friendship. A good life is cultivating relationships with the people that I love & those that inspire me.
A perfect storm for a consumer spending crunch might be brewing
1. Credit card debt at all time highs
2. Mortgage rates hitting 7%
3. Student loan payments kick in 2nd half of 2023
Something to keep an eye on
#MysteryBroker sums up: Market in an "in-between phase." Had a bear market in 2022 based on higher interest rates, valuations. Market now "waiting for a recession and is becoming very impatient. The positive seasonals for the third year of an election cycle disappear after June."
The #MysteryBroker lists 15 separate indicators or conditions now in place which he says have always preceded an official recession, many involving PMIs, yield curve, Leading Economic Indicators and various consumer and business confidence measures.
Here is some of my advice for those who are graduating and entering “the real world.”
You’re about to enter the beginning of the second phase of your life which is totally different from the first. Realize that you know virtually nothing about what it’s like so you need to learn what it’s like and how to be great at it.
To be young and have all that adventure ahead of you is wonderful. Make the most of it! Here are some principles that might help you.
#graduation #principles
It is extremely hard to get your hands on a house right now. Everybody is afraid of high interest rates. But the moment those interest rates come down, all hell is going to break loose and prices will go through the roof from pent-up demand and FOMO.