How to drastically increase your chances of being lucky

The concept of luck, coincidences and opportunities.

Port Harcourt, Rivers State
I was seven [7] years old then.
Precise Location: Opposite St. John’s Nursery/Primary School, Rumuokwurusi
Event Description: A Hummer Jeep had just passed, and my friends and I started a conversation.

It would be the first time anyone of us would be seeing what seemed to us an exotic car. If you know anything about Rumuokwurusi in Port Harcourt and the environment I happened to have grown up in, you will realize that it’s very rare to see such cars at the time we did, in the year we did see them.

Though a large Catholic Church owned my primary school, and the premises of the school were situated inside the compound, we were rarely around on Sundays, or on days when they had masses. Opposite my school was a cult. It was rumoured that they served the Sun, and by all indications to a seven-year-old, they did. We never had the privilege to go inside, and the closest to it we’ve even been is alighting from a vehicle in front of the building.

Reverend Sister Felicia Enechukwu was my first Headmistress, and before I left graduated, Sister Patricia Ngwuemo became Headmistress. It was a wonderful experience growing up and schooling where I did. Across the fence just beside us was the Community Primary School, and this was the first time I could tell there was a difference in how educated I was because, no matter what, there was just something that we had that made us stand out from them. We had friends among them, as the majority of us lived in the same environment. St John’s was just one of those schools that gave children of the poor a chance at being global and being taught by some of the best talents willing to offer their best as a form of service to God and humanity.

Anyhoo, that's not the focus of this article.

Growing up, I saw luck as something that was out of human control. Luck was a culmination of unprecedented activities that ended up in the favour of a person; at least, that’s what good luck is. And if it’s negative? We conclude that such an individual had bad luck.

Doing a quick Google search brought the following results:

1. Luck is the force that causes things, especially good things, to happen by chance and not as a result of your own efforts or abilities.
2. It can be defined as an occurrence beyond one’s control that brings either positive or negative outcomes.
3. The word likely entered English as a gambling term and is used to understand personal chance events

So, it’s a given that most people understand what Luck is, and they also know that it is not something that is controlled either.

However, I have taken a long time thinking about luck. I actually hated the word as a kid, because, on that fateful day in 2005, my friends had said that were lucky to have seen a Hummer Jeep drive past our school. And the first time I saw a White Lamborghini, I felt the same way. I felt lucky.

I was irritated at the fact that because of the conditions surrounding my upbringing, and the social class my parents fell into, things which should never even have been attributed to the word luck, were being treated as such.

• Why was I lucky to see a Hummer Jeep at 7?
• Why was I lucky to see a Lamborghini?
• Why was luck always associated with things people perceived were out of my reach because of a limitation in material possession?

I was infuriated.

However, from that day, on and off, I had thought about what it meant to be lucky. I asked myself, “If luck is something I can not rule out, are there ways to improve my chances of being lucky?”

Watching Blue Lock last year, there was a particular scene in the Third Selection where Rin’s team beat Isagi’s team based on sheer luck. And this is how Ego explained it:

It would seem last year, I got the answer to the question I had been asking myself since I was seven, however, it was just on Saturday that I finally realized I had found my answer.

Why?

I met Emmanuel Nduka [The Elumelu Boy]. Emmanuel Nduka is what some people would define as lucky. In fact, there were conversations I had to excuse myself from where the crux of their beef with him was the fact that he was lucky. If luck is all it takes to get to where he was, then, I want such luck.

I talked to him as much as I observed him through the event. The first thing I noticed was the fact that he had an air of confidence around him. Meeting him physically made me realize that he had been preparing drastically for what happened to him a few years ago. Whatever anyone decides to call it, there’s a constant in the fact that he had prepared so much that when the situations aligned, he was well-positioned to make use of it.

While one of the speakers spoke about him, they mentioned how he has a “solid personal brand” across all of his social media touchpoints, and I thought to myself, that’s a lot of intentional work, and it’s not something you just stumble upon. You have to commit to it.

So, how do you increase your chances of being lucky?

In a call with one of my employers a few months ago, we were in the middle of a lot of problems, and we were brainstorming on how to get out of it. He made a statement which I immediately wrote on my board, “The only thing you can control is your effort”.

This implies that if faced with situations that are beyond your control, the best approach to such situations is to be sure of your efforts and apply them adequately, because, the only thing you have control over, is actually your efforts.

My friend made a post a few weeks back. An organization was looking to hire and pay someone with crypto-related content on its Medium blog. The content doesn't have to be newly written, just someone who has written some content concerning crypto, and they were going to pay that person simply for the content he’s written in the past.

Whoever got that job would be counted as lucky. Immediately, people will forget the backlog of consistent hard work such a person has, and slam the label lucky on such a person.

Is he lucky? Maybe he is. But luck is not a standalone concept that just happens to people.

Ego said it is a culmination of several decisions, luck comes to those who have put in the work.

Down to business now. From what I have gathered so far, here are a few ways you can drastically increase your chances of being lucky. Because at this juncture, you would agree with me, that we all want to be lucky.

So:

1. Control your effort, put in the work

Again, the only thing you can control is your effort. So the first place to start from in being lucky is to control your effort by putting in the work.

Luck doesn't just happen to people. You have to have had some sort of preparation that makes it possible to be called lucky.

I can’t tell you how to put in the work, because, I don't live in your head. However, if you’ve found something worth doing, and you hope to be lucky someday, then commit to it.

2. Talk to people about what you’re doing

Nothing thrives in secrecy, even good things.

Yes, I know you don’t want people to sabotage you, and all that. But, if you’re not talking about what you’re doing, how would the people who can help, or connect you to people who can help know what you’re up to?

When you talk about what you’re doing, you don’t have to always share everything, but share enough for people to know who to point you to or point to you.

So, find people who look like what you want to become, and talk to them. Talk to people about what you’re doing, whether it’s at the idea stage or not, just talk to people.

3. Show workings

I have learned that no matter the level of faith people have in you, they are moved more by results. It doesn't have to be the final result, but along the way, show some workings.

In Math when I was in secondary school, I was elated when I learned that the marking standard was set so that you get points for each process you show. It encouraged us to want to really understand the concepts and processes that were involved in getting the answers.

So, just like secondary school Math, and other calculation courses I took in the university, there are marks for working. And in the process of showing workings, you can find out if you are going in the right direction.

But, if all you do is hide all your processes, then, at the end of the day, you might be too far gone on the wrong road for anyone to help you.

Whatever you’re working on, you can share a progress report per time. Doing this helps you measure your progress. It also helps people know where and when they can come in to offer help or guidance.

This might not be what you hoped to read, but, I hope it helps you get slightly even luckier.