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The last paragraph is what I actually find most useful: Finally, I suppose, I’d say that a surprising amount of a good career is about getting lucky and taking
by p2detar 5y ago
The last paragraph is what I actually find most useful:
Finally, I suppose, I’d say that a surprising amount of a good career is about getting lucky and taking advantage of when you’ve gotten lucky. It’s clear to me that many of the best things that have happened to me were only partially in my control, if that.
- bibabaloo 5y agoLuck Surface Area (https://www.codusoperandi.com/posts/increasing-your-luck-surface-area https://www.codusoperandi.com/posts/increasing-your-luck-sur...) definitely applies to this, though - it's all about positioning yourself so that you have the opportunity to get lucky.
- ethbr0 5y agoAs my father told me when I was younger, "It's amazing how much luckier well-prepared people are."
- cableshaft 5y agoThis is pretty obvious as a game designer in the board game industry. I'll see a publisher post on Facebook that they're accepting submissions and if I don't have something ready to show I can't take advantage of it. Happened to me just this morning, even, that I saw a publisher say they were accepting submissions I had some games that would be a good fit but I'm still trying to iron out a few things (and could have done that by now, but hadn't).
- sethammons 5y agoI am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. --Thomas Jefferson
- Epenthesis 5y agoEh, luck + effort beats luck, but luck by itself pretty often beats effort. I'm a good deal wealthier than some much harder working + smarter friends of mine because I lucked into joining some (moderately) successful startups.
- yobbo 5y agoFalse. Confronting bad luck with well-prepared diligent effort can be pretty bad, but you can't know if the luck is good/bad without effort. It's like handcuffing yourself to "Schrödinger's albatros". No, luck does not favour the prepared, but survivorship bias makes it seem so.
- ehnto 5y agoLooking back on previous opportunities I've had, I do regret not taking full advantage of them. It wasn't something I realized I should be cognizant of until later in my career though. With hindsight it's easy to see where I could have utilized each opportunity more. That is one of those 'small privileges' you get from an upbringing that teaches how to succeed I think, much like personal finance, travel, building strong relationships and so on. I know it's hard to get through to kids sometimes, but just having them keep in mind that they should be aware of these topics puts them miles ahead of others in terms of living a well lived life.
- germinalphrase 5y ago“… I do regret not taking full advantage of them” Knowing how to do so - or even what ‘full advantage’ includes - is almost certainly one of those ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ things. Obvious later in your career, but invisible at the time.
- totoglazer 5y agoIt’s definitely been my experience that within a job, there’s lucky projects, meetings, etc projects that can come your way. Great success has come from executing them well and being aware of when to push further. Of course, there are also (in retrospect doomed) unlucky projects too, which can set you back. Still, recognizing that you can do more, or less, with converting a lucky opportunity into lucky career growth is important. Especially for those of us who are of average skill.
- spockz 5y agoInstead of luck I would call it unscheduled. The after hour discussions with a colleague at the coffee machine or after a meeting. Or the moment you realise another colleague has the same issue and you fix it together.
- BobbyJo 5y agoThis is the advice I hear most from successful people, but in varying formats, and it's the thing I think age teaches you the most: when opportunity comes knocking, answer the fucking door.
- AnimalMuppet 5y agoAnd when money's growing on trees, pick it.