How to engineer luck
Luck has surface area. Increase it, and luck has a better chance of finding you.
Synposis:
luck isn’t a lottery - it’s a strategy
the science of luck proves it is behavioural (and can be learned)
ways to increase your luck surface area (so it finds you).
You have the idea, the ambition, and a clear vision of success. Now all you need is a lucky break—right? That one introduction, that one open door that finally gets things moving.
So you wait. And you tweak. You do some more research. And you wait some more. Then you start to wonder: Where do opportunities even come from—and how do I get one?
The truth is, luck absolutely exists. But it has a formula. Preparation + Opportunity = Luck. It also has a surface area—the bigger it is, the easier it is for luck to land. I realised this by accident during a start-up accelerator program.
With few connections and no special advantages, I was accepted into a prestigious program designed to catapult early-stage businesses forward. Part of the deal? I had to show up—literally. Not just out of respect for the institution or the entrepreneurs-in-residence who had taken a chance on me, but because I was contractually obliged due to the financial investment.
So I did.
I pushed myself waaaaaay out of my comfort zone—introducing myself to every guest speaker and following up with emails and LinkedIn messages. I set up coffee meetings with anyone who had insights into the problem I was working on. I extended myself beyond belief.
By the end of ten weeks, my world had transformed.
A powerhouse investor and mentor was in my corner. Billionaires and unicorn founders were offering advice and personally emailing me. My inbox was flooded with more coffee invitations than I could schedule.
So lucky, right?
Except—I had never experienced this kind of “luck” before because I had never extended myself like this before. I had never leaned fully into the awkward, blind-date style of networking.
The difference wasn’t luck. It was action.
The Science of Luck
Psychologist Richard Wiseman, author of The Luck Factor, spent years studying what separates “lucky” people from those who seem to miss out. His research found that lucky people share common behaviours: they’re open to new experiences, they actively seek out connections, and they stay attuned to opportunities.
In other words: Luck isn’t magic—it’s behavioural.
In one of Wiseman’s most famous experiments, participants were asked to count the number of photographs in a newspaper.
The self-described unlucky participants took several minutes. The lucky ones? Just seconds.
Why the difference?
On page two of the paper, in giant bold letters, was a message: “Stop counting—there are 43 photographs in this newspaper.” Further on: “Tell the experimenter you’ve seen this and win $250.”
The “lucky” participants saw the signs and acted. The “unlucky” ones missed them entirely.
Same task. Same opportunity. Different awareness.
This theme showed up again and again in Wiseman’s research: “Lucky” people didn’t wait for luck—they were primed to spot it.
The Four Kinds of Luck
In 1978, Dr. James H. Austin introduced the concept of four distinct types of luck in his book Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty. Entrepreneur Naval Ravikant later expanded on these ideas, offering a framework for understanding how we can influence our own luck:
Blind Luck: Completely out of our control, like winning the lottery. It's unpredictable and can't be relied upon.
Luck from Hustling: Luck that comes through persistence, hard work, and creating opportunities. By generating a lot of energy and doing many things, you stir up chances for luck to find you. As Ravikant puts it, this is when "you're running around creating lots of opportunities, you're generating a lot of energy, you're doing a lot of things, lots of things will get stirred up in the dust."
Luck from Preparation: When you're skilled in a particular field, you become adept at spotting opportunities that others might overlook. Your expertise allows you to notice when a lucky break happens in your domain.
Luck from Your Unique Character: This is the luck that finds you because of your unique brand, mindset, or reputation. By building a unique character, you position yourself in a way that attracts luck. Ravikant illustrates this with an example: if you're the best in the world at deep-sea diving, and someone discovers a sunken treasure, their luck becomes your luck because they seek your expertise to retrieve it.
Engineered Serendipity
Some of what we call luck is actually the macro result of thousands of micro actions.
As Sahil Bloom explains:
“Your daily habits can put you in a position where luck is more likely to strike. It’s possible to increase your serendipity surface area and engineer your own luck.”
Luck can absolutely be designed. It’s not about wishing. It’s about doing—creating enough movement, visibility, and momentum that opportunity has somewhere to land.
Increase Your Luck Surface Area
Jesse Itzler, entrepreneur and co-founder of Marquis Jet, credits much of his success to one simple idea: put yourself in situations where luck can find you.
He didn’t wait for opportunities—he created them. He attended events, stayed late, and kept showing up in the rooms where decisions were made. Was it lucky that the right client walked in? Maybe. But it wasn’t luck that he was there—ready, prepared, and positioned.
He mastered the preparation part of the equation—so when opportunity appeared, the result looked a lot like luck.
You can’t control luck completely. But like Itzler, you can increase the odds by making yourself easier to find.
Because sitting on the sidelines shrinks your surface area for luck to almost nothing—no new conversations, no fresh collisions, no doors opening.
Taking action, showing up, and putting your work into the world? That’s how you make luck possible.
Steps to Engineer More Luck
Show Up More – The biggest opportunities don’t happen while you’re scrolling on the couch. Attend the event. Say yes to the meeting. Put yourself in places where serendipity can happen. Yes, it’ll feel awkward at first. But staying stuck feels worse.
Talk to More People – Lucky people tend to have broader, more diverse networks. Every conversation is a chance for connection, collaboration, or insight.
Be Open to the Unexpected – Rigid plans can blind you to better options. Lucky people stay flexible. (Mel Robbins’ first book went “out of stock” on Amazon due to unexpected demand. Shoppers downloaded the audiobook instead—so many, in fact, that she became the #1 audiobook of 2017. That surprise led to a major partnership with Audible.)
Share Your Work – The more visible your efforts, the more likely the right person will see them. No one can help you if they don’t know what you’re doing. Yes, posting online can feel cringey—but invisibility isn’t a strategy.
Take More Shots – The more attempts, the greater the odds. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, reminds us that success is often a numbers game. More tries = more chances for “luck” to show up.
Luck Isn’t a Lottery—It’s a Strategy
Luck doesn’t belong to the chosen few. It belongs to those who create the conditions for it.
The people who seem the luckiest aren’t waiting. They’re making moves. They’re taking risks.
They’re building momentum and putting themselves in luck’s path.
Anyone can engineer more luck. It starts with showing up, taking action, and giving luck something to work with.