From 2-D for 4-D: Beyond the surface area of luck

1 message

Ed Latimore <ed@edlatimore.com> Tue, Nov 14, 2023 at 5:06 PM

To: Saif <gluacamole33@gmail.com>

Stoic Street-Smarts

Read on my website

The "surface area of luck" refers to the idea that luck can be
cultivated by maximizing your chances for positive, random
opportunities through broad and diverse life experiences.
Taking action expands the playing field where good fortune
can take hold.

The idea is that while luck can be thought of as a random

chance, you can increase the chances of experiencing a lucky
break by maximizing your exposure to potential serendipitous
events.

But is there more to luck than this, and if there is, how do we
practically implement this idea into lives for better outcomes?

What is "luck"?

Luck plays a significant role in the life of any successful

person.
Hard work is important, but a little good fortune goes a long
way in being successful.

Everyone's gotten a lucky break or two, but people don’t like to

admit this for two reasons:

1. People believe that it takes away from the effort they

put in. After all, even people who are OBVIOUSLY lucky
don’t like to hear that’s why they have a good life.
2. They severely misunderstand what luck is. Most think
it’s picking the right numbers or winning the “genetic
lottery.” These things help you excel, but they don’t matter

If you reduce all success to “right place, right time,” how can
you seriously be considered as a candidate for the power of
initiative and hard work? Dealing with the first
misunderstanding is a natural result of dealing with the
second.

Before I define luck, let me warn you: it will probably differ

from whatever’s in Webster’s dictionary. If you’re satisfied
with your luck, read theirs instead.

Ed Latimore’s Definition Of Luck: Let “n” be an intended or

predicted outcome. Let k be any number of events that occur
because of “n.” The unintended n+k order of effects of an
action is luck.

Now that we know what luck is, next is the life-changing

question: how do we get more of it in our lives?

A brief explanation of the idea of dimensions (You can

skip if you are a physics or math person)

Mathematically, a dimension refers to the minimum number

of coordinates needed to specify a point in space. It describes
the degrees of freedom or ways an object can move. For most
conversations, there are only four-dimensional coordinates.
These roughly translate into:

“x” = horizontal
“y” = vertical
“z” = depth
“t” = time

For example:

A point on a line is fully specified by one coordinate, so

a line has one dimension.
A point on a plane requires two coordinates (e.g. x and
y), so a plane has two dimensions. When we measure a
flat surface, we only need two coordinates. Colloquially,
we just say “length” and “width.”
A point in everyday space has three coordinates (x, y, z),
so regular space has three dimensions. Every object you
can touch has a length, width, and height.
Time is not often discussed as a dimensional quality in
everyday conversation, but think of it this way: Your body
has its three dimensions, and to accurately describe you,
we also mention the time we’re discussing your existence.
There’s the current time you read this sentence. Now that
you’re reading this next sentence, it’s a little later in time.
This is important to ensure your GPS coordinates are
accurate or if you ever need to provide an alibi in a court
of law.

The dimension of a space refers to the minimum number of

coordinates or parameters needed to define a unique point in
that space. It describes how many ways there are to move
through that space.

Now that we have primer out of the way, let’s start discussing
the dimensionality of luck, and we can use this idea to
increase how much luck we experience in our daily lives.

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

I’ve always loved this quote because it reflects my general

experience. The better I do, the more good things seem to find
me.

This might frustrate “hard workers” who can’t seem to catch a

break no matter how many 70-hour work weeks they put in.
But let’s look at this dimensionally to explain their frustration.

“Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.”

We’ll consider “preparation” the same as work. They’re

effectively the same thing. Let’s plot “work” on the x-axis and
“opportunity” on the y-axis. This is important, as opportunity
is dependent on work.
 "The harder you work, the luckier you get."

Luck is found in the area formed under the intersection of

work and opportunity. You can increase this area by doing
more work or cultivating more opportunities. I’ll define
“work” and “opportunities” more precisely.

“Hard work” is not the same as “valuable work.”

If you’re wondering why your situation never gets better

despite working hard, it’s likely because your work isn’t
valuable. How can you tell if your work is valuable? Easy: is it
scarce?
If you can be easily replaced or outsourced, or there is no
barrier to entry for your job, then your work isn’t valuable. It
may be grueling and demand 70-80 hours of your week, but if
it doesn’t require a particular skill set, knowledge, or set of
connections, then it’s not valuable.

Your wages likely reflect that. If you’re ever in doubt, ask

yourself this simple question: how quickly could your
contribution to a team, company, or organization be replaced
if you suddenly disappeared?

Generally speaking, the longer it takes to learn, the higher

the barrier of entry, and the fewer people who do it (well),
the more valuable it is.

To remember the distinction, keep the following idea in mind:

If I hire you to dig a hole, I’m not paying you more because
you used a spoon. Likewise, I’m not paying you less
because it turned out to be a sinkhole.

Work and opportunities

In the original post that spawned the idea of the surface area
of luck, The programmer Jason Roberts made an astute
observation about pursuing your passions:

Your expertise naturally grows when you take action on what

deeply interests you. In turn, people learn about your skills
and may utilize them in totally unexpected ways.

This is the idea of getting your lucky break. It comes when you
take action on valuable work you enjoy so much you are
compelled to push yourself.

This passion gets attention. That attention brings

opportunities. When you are good at things that people find
valuable, this also bestows on you a sense of competence that
bleeds over into other opportunities.

Some of those opportunities will directly relate to the skills

that brought you attention. Others will only be tangentially
related but prove to be just as life-changing. But the only way
to get more opportunities is to become proficient at things
people find valuable.

Another way to interpret this is that you must learn to self-

promote. Even if you don’t actively market yourself, it’s
important that people know that you have talents.

I used to live by the adage, “When you’re good, you tell other
people, but when you’re great, other people tell other people
about you.”

While this is still mostly true, the world is a noisy place.

Markets are not oversaturated as much as crowded with noisy
C and D-level players who learned to self-promote to
compensate for their lack of skill.

It’s great when those people find you, but it’s even more
powerful when you start to seek them out.

What happens when you don't work?

 Anything times zero is zero.

"You don't hustle, you don't eat"—Diddy

If you only do low-value work, you never create opportunities

for yourself. Unless you're born into a successful family, you
will almost never just be given an opportunity.

Opportunities find people who are worthy of them. It's hard to

go unnoticed if you do a good job on jobs that are hard to do.

The Spatial Volume of Success

If you did nothing else but become proficient at valuable skills,

you’d attract enough attention to manifest tremendous
amounts of luck in your life.

However, what if you could take that luck to the next level and
start floating through life as if the gods of luck choose to smile
at you and only you specifically?

You’ll have to add a third dimension to the system. When you

add “connections," you really start cooking with gas.

Life is better when you're the cause of events rather than just reacting

Another way to think of this dimension is as “cold outreach.”

Cold outreach is when you’ve got no relationship or

connection with the prospect to whom you’re offering your
services. These connections must be created and, in doing so,
add a new dimension to the surface area of luck, transforming
it into the spatial volume of success.

The more progress you’ve made along the dimensions of work

and opportunity, the easier it will be to progress along the
dimension of connections. Doing valuable work and taking
advantage of the opportunities it brings you makes people far
more receptive when you reach out to them.

They can more easily verify that you’re someone worth

working with by looking at your resume of work, asking
around, or looking you up.

Cold outreach works best when you're already on a hot streak of success

We can think of cold outreach as adding a new dimension to

the "surface area of luck" - transforming it into a broader
"volume of success." Making cold connections expands your
network beyond existing relationships.

Cold outreach is more effective once you've built momentum

through great work and capitalizing on opportunities.

People typically think of this as "networking," but the secret is

that there is no such thing as networking. There is only being
good at something, letting people discover it, and then offering
your services to them.

Ed Latimore
@EdLatimore

Stop thinking in terms of building a network. Just get good

at something.

People like hanging around people who aren't losers. It's

really that simple.
 F--- networking.

11:32 PM • Jan 3, 2019

138 Retweets 766 Likes

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A track record of success gives cold outreach more power.

Strangers are more open to forming new partnerships if your
reputation already speaks for itself. Momentum in other areas
smooths the way for expanding your network through cold
contact.

“Half of these n$A**s tellin’ lies, they just sound true. Shit, if
you had it like that, I woulda found you.” —Young Jeezy,
“This one’s for you”

More swings at bat = more home runs

If your batting average is .3, you’ll hit the ball 3 of 10 times that
you swing at it. Most of those will be base hits, but
occasionally, you’ll knock one out of the park. Let’s assume
that your batting average has been maxed out—you simply
can’t get any better.

The only way to get more home runs is to swing at more

pitches. This takes time, bringing us to the fourth and final
dimension.
 The curve represents the idea of some work not becoming an opportunity

Success takes time. Many of your attempts will not yield a

successful result. However, this does not mean you stop
working. All it means is that you have to keep going.

Consistency is king, but it only has power when you can keep
it up in the face of failure.

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss

of enthusiasm.”—Winston Churchill

The ability to do this is called “grit.”

It's grit that separates those who persevere from those who
quit. Grit fuels the persistence to pick ourselves up after
defeats and disappointments. It provides the tenacity to keep
moving forward, even inch by inch, when progress seems
elusive.

True success goes to those who can stumble repeatedly yet

maintain their zeal. Each fall leaves bruises but also offers
lessons. With grit, we find the resolve to learn from failures,
adjust our approach, and try again.

The rest is up to you,

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