#2 The four types of luck
Luck plays a huge role in our life and the level of success we achieve. But we put all kinds of luck in the same bucket. Legendary entrepreneur and investor Marc Andreessen wrote about 4 different types of luck. Let’s explore them.
Type I - blind luck. This kind of luck is purely accidental and comes with no effort on our part. Blind luck is that time when I won a raffle contest in college or when I hit a strike the first time I picked up a bowling ball. Pure accident.
Type II - luck through motion. Type II luck is when you get lucky by stirring the pot and taking a lot of shots at goal. When you stir the pot enough, random ideas collide and stick together in new ways. This kind of luck is the most accessible to people and my favorite of all. When you keep trying and keep taking shots at goal, you end up getting lucky. This type of luck favors those who are curious, energetic and are willing to experiment and explore.
Type III - chance favors the prepared mind. This kind of luck happens to people who have sufficient background and knowledge of different areas to notice and form significant new associations. If you are very skilled in a specific field, you can spot opportunities that others can't. Something that's insignificant for others is an opportunity for you because of your background and the ability to synthesize.
Type IV - luck favors individualized action. You are such a big expert in a field that people seek you out to help solve hard problems. Luck comes to you because who you are and how you behave. This type of luck favors those with distinctive ideas, knowledge and hobbies. To get type IV lucky, you need to be unique and weird.
While anyone can get Type I and II luck, Type III and IV luck requires us to constantly work on synthesizing our learnings, and developing a personal point of view, hobbies, and lifestyle.
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