According to the dictionary, luck is “Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions” and the more popular definition is “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”. Unsurprisingly, we don’t like either of these definitions! Instead we define luck as “good fortune that goes to people who don’t need it”. Why? Well once you know how luck works you’ll adjust your personality to make it come your way. For fun we’re going to provide a step-by-step luck creation machine.
Lucky to Be Alive
Before we begin, we’ll point out the obvious. Anyone reading this is lucky to be alive. Millions of people died which diminished the gene pool. There was a one in a billion chance for you to be alive today (probably lower). The chances of being alive in the 21st century? A miracle. The chances of being born into a 1st world country? Another miracle. And. The chances of finding this blog? Another miracle! (half joking)
We’re sure you’ve all heard this before and we think the one additional item is the amount of information available to you. That is hands down the most critical change today versus 100 years ago. If someone creates a revolutionary new product, you’ll likely hear about it within a year (at the latest). Just ~30 years ago, information was delivered extremely slowly (snail mail) and new information took years to become well known around the globe. Now? That could happen in five seconds.
With the invention of the Internet, you can gain access to information written by investors, billionaires, millionaires, athletes, doctors, etc. While it is up to you to discern which information is most valuable, the availability is meaningful. Remember, one of the primary reasons for the USA being where it is today? Information. Guns versus Bows & Arrows. Therefore, access to information helps level the playing field for anyone living in the 21st century. There are no excuses in the 21st century because the necessary information is available.
“Luck: Good fortune that goes to people who don’t need it”
Think about it for a second. Have you ever met a “lucky” person who needed the luck in the first place? Unlikely. Even the broke folk who win the lottery? They lose it quickly! The luckiest people seem to never need the luck in the first place. So we have our hint on how to obtain luck: When you no longer need it, you’ll receive it. As a bonus note? The reverse is also true.
The Corporate Guy: We know, you’re probably questioning our definition already so we’ll ask you to think about your past and see if it’s true. Have you noticed that the happy guy who isn’t interested in moving up is typically the one who does move up? Have you noticed that the same guy has no problems with being laid off yet is never laid off (ever?). Have you noticed the reverse? A guy who is desperately in need of the job/career gets laid off. Or. The guy who recently took a large mortgage is typically the same guy to get cut first? We’ve noticed as well.
Now, we’re not saying you’ll simply move up the ladder by doing nothing the real key seems to be stress. They are called “happy go lucky” for a reason not “unhappy stop lucky”. Luck seems to favor those that are in a relaxed state and we’d wager it has more to do with 1) performance and 2) mood/demeanor. What person works better with massive amounts of stress hanging over his head all the time (recall the last time someone stood staring over your shoulder as you tried to work)? What person would promote a guy who is constantly negative all of the time? You all know the answer. No one. At the end of the day work is about performance and more importantly people management as you move up the chain and the “Happy Go Lucky” guy is typically the better fit 99 times out of 100.
Dating: Another fun one. Always common for ex-girlfriends or flings to show up right around when you’re in a new relationship. Similarly, once you’ve stopped partying hard for a while and simply go out to have fun here and there your ability to meet new people goes through the roof. Luck? Or the creation of luck? We’ll go ahead and say you’ve created luck. You no longer need social validation and that improves your overall demeanor and it is beyond easy for you to strike up conversations while sober in a night club or a grocery store. No difference to you.
Not good enough? Think about all of the guys you know who tend to do well with women. Are they constantly looking for the next “trick” to get girls? Are they willing to give up their entire career or business to move to a third world country just to meet girls who are 0.5 points better on the same old 1-10 scale? Are they going out incessantly to get “better”? Of course not. Unlike the guys who are faking the actions of successful, relaxed and confident men… They already have these qualities so it doesn’t need to be faked. Once again. Once you don’t need the validation, opportunities begin to show up on your door-step.
Money: This is what you’re here for. Good ole’ money luck. If you’re reading a blog called Wall Street Playboys and have no interest in becoming a multi-millionaire… we have no idea how you’ve stumbled upon this website. That said, money luck requires the most mental and physical control. If you don’t need it, you’ll stumble on it several times over the course of 10+ years. In other words, “the rich get richer”, a rare saying we 100% agree with.
Now to prove our point, have you noticed that large opportunities seem to land in front of people with money first? Have you noticed that people who are happy with what they have tend to stumble upon more ways to make even *more* money without needing it? Well we have too. The reason is simple really… when you don’t need to make more money you value your time. By valuing your time more? The options weed themselves out for you. Instead of working for a $100 a hour when you were young, you’re able to say no and go out to lunch with someone else as a favor instead (doesn’t make economical sense but makes sense from a utility maximization sense).
Step by Step on How to Create Luck
On to the good stuff. Before we begin, we’re not saying you’ll stumble upon *Good Luck* by sitting at home doing nothing. The only people who will benefit from doing nothing at all? Those set up for generational wealth (see lucky to be alive!). Instead, we’ll go ahead and give you the step by step to creating luck from scratch! After all who wants to work hard when this crazy game of life can throw money at you for simply having a good time.
Step 1 – Get Financially Stable: It is practically impossible to be happy go lucky when you’re broke. Rare specimens can turn it around in terrible situations (think Trump in the 90s). That said, we’d focus on creating a nice financial buffer before trying the more extreme versions of luck creation. A decent buffer is somewhere around 2x annual living expenses. You’ll become much less tense knowing that a layoff won’t leave you on the Streets.
Step 2 – Keep on the Path: The biggest way to *destroy* luck? Go down multiple paths at the same time. You see, for some reason luck favors people who are unrelenting and hard headed. If you’ve decided to go down the sales path it does not make sense to jump into a coding boot camp. In addition, if you’ve decided to go into Technology please avoid starting a real estate company. So on and so forth. You’re allowed to choose *two* ways to earn an income. You’ll focus on these two paths (no more) until luck comes your way.
There are a million ways to get rich. Just don’t look at the ones unrelated to you. Luck is distributed equally according to our advanced calculations (we’ve done none). If you spend 10 years on one path you’re more likely to get lucky than if you were to spend 2 years on five different paths. Keep searching and each street, avenue or freeway will have at least one pot of gold. Much harder to find if you’re constantly looking at the paths unrelated to you (wasting valuable time!)
Step 3 – Learn to Laugh at Yourself: The second biggest way to *destroy* luck? Taking everything seriously. You already know the type. Those guys who are constantly stressed out about the next Career move, the next investment, the recent price in XYZ stock that they were “going to invest in but forgot”. So on and so forth. Sure Steve Jobs and others make billions and take everything seriously… If that’s the life you want to live, this blog probably isn’t for you. Who would enjoy going through life taking every single detail seriously when he could get his pot of gold… blow a good chunk of it in a party infused flame of glory… only to have no way of spending it all anyway! We’re hoping you’re in the second group otherwise you’re probably not fun to hang out with anyway. The feeling of embarrassment is for people who take themselves far too seriously.
Step 4 – Identify Trends: As stated earlier the more popular definition of luck is “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”. The problem is that we’re discounting your ability to perceive the future. Does it take a rocket scientist to realize that live streaming will displace “news reports”? Does it take a rocket scientist to realize that mid-teir education systems will go the way of the dinosaur after being displaced by online resources? Does it take a rocket scientist to realize that sales is harder to automate when compared to book keeping? It sure doesn’t. Your job is to identify trends and ideally see an inflection point ~5-10 years out. This gives you a full five years to live in the abyss staring at an opportunity that no one sees until it is too late for your competition to catch up.
Step 5 – Hang Out With Lucky People: In the “48 Laws of Power” the Book recommends avoiding the “Unhappy and Unlucky”. The best way to do this is to find lucky and happy people. Importantly, if you’re finding that people are unwilling to hang out with you… Well guess what that means? You’re likely unhappy or unlucky. And. If you’re either one of them, you’re likely to be both soon! Before it’s too late, try and mirror the traits of the happy and lucky (women are generally bubbly and happy for a reason, they know how good luck works!)… Sure enough you’ll be one of the people everyone wants to hang around for good luck. Who knows, they may even rub your head for good luck in the future (joke).
Step 6 – Do Not Hope or Wish For Luck: This is the last item on the “avoidance list”. By wishing for luck you’ll guarantee it won’t happen. Luck isn’t interested in people who need it (see our definition). Luck is only interested in people who don’t have a care for it. So you switched affiliate offers the week before it dried up? Laugh at the stroke of luck and have a shot of tequilla. Had an infographic go viral that results in a one day windfall of 5 figures? Go ahead and blow $1,000 at the wine bar and hand out free drinks to everyone in sight… say nothing about your good fortune. Luck favors those that are willing to lose it all and by blowing some of it you’re likely creating more of it anyway. Just don’t hope or wish for it otherwise the music changes from James Brown to the Jaws Theme song.
Step 7 – Stay in the Flow of Money Luck: The best way to get money luck? Be there when it is present. No we don’t mean rap videos, we mean the transactional nature of money. When large amounts of money are moving around, someone is typically being paid to facilitate the transaction (make the market). Imagine owning just a piece of something as popular as Coinbase. You can create a large amount of money and be exposed to multiple currencies all at the same time. If you don’t believe in staying within the flow of money just ask a payment services company (Paypal, Visa, Coinbase, ADP etc.), a major bank or a high end real estate agent.
Step 8 – Create a Stress Free Life: As your income goes up, your net worth also goes up. This is where the fun balance comes in. Constantly take on more risk so long as your stress never increases. This means you never want to feel like you’re under a lot of pressure (see performance declines) and it means you should enjoy taking on more risk. If you feel uncomfortable clicking buy or levering up… shut the deal down. Luck rarely favors those that are uncomfortable with the risk they took. Notice. The key is that you must feel comfortable with it. That is why many people can take on a lot of risk and sleep like a baby.
Step 9 – Sit Down and Realize Life is Meaningless: If you’ve done all of the items above your luck is likely improving. You’ll get to a point where you “feel” like you’re searching for meaning. Make the mental jump and realize *everything* is meaningless! We’re only going to live for a 100 years or so and none of that valuable time should be wasted on “discovering the meaning of life”. Nobody will remember if you died with $100M, $10M or $0 in the bank. After all, you’re rich already so the only excuse for being unhappy is staring right back at you every single time you step in front of a mirror! The word that describes rich intense unhappy people? Easy. Boring!
Step 10 – Create a Troll/Hobby Website: Create a website entirely made for the laughs since blogging for money is foolish. Somehow it grows despite any effort at all. Change the direction of the blog. Leave an industry you worked in for several years. Write a book on it and give it away for cheap because you’ve already left the sector anyway… So who cares if competition goes up! Good old luck will probably show up somewhere down the line because of this anyway. Name the website WallStreetP…. Wait.
Let us know if you have any other tips for creating luck. If they are serious in nature? They will be deleted because we’ll know you’re lying!
As a 19 about to turn 20 year old, who is just starting his journey in real estate sales, this blog is my bible.
Maybe one day, after I succeed, I’ll start a blog called realestatebois or something.
Looking forward to the book!
Good luck with RE. Hopefully you’re not at Remax though. Tough gig but don’t forget it moves in cycles and in tough times you’ll find yourself wet dreaming about PWC audit.
“What person would promote a guy who is constantly negative all of the time? You all know the answer. No one.”
Bang on. The people who constantly whine and whinge about everything in their life are the last to experience ‘luck’. Once they get it, they talk it down as if it’s nothing – probably comparing it to the even better ‘luck’ of someone else.
“Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.”
― Marcus Aurelius
Worst part is they happen to see good luck they rarely capitalize on it because they think “ahh it won’t work”.
Yep,
Learned this way back in high school. Was a loser, never had a girlfriend. When I stopped caring, suddenly had three girls at once after me.
Networking with alumni during uni, didn’t pressure anyone for a job, just wanted to talk / advice. one came back in my senior year with a (small) NYC PE offer.
Agreed. Concept similar to that of the Bhagwad Gita’s
It’s about being open to the fact that we may not get the result we want. Just worry about putting the best work in. If we get the right result, the build on it. If we don’t get the right result, then we analyze the mistake, and correct it or take a new path
Your name though 🙂
There’s no way a guy in his 20s is willing to work 14 hours a day, work out 6 times a week, manage his eating properly, read a blog called WSPB, do everything double as hard as ordinary people and then just not care.
Sure you can appear to not care but you’ll never not care unless you’re already succesful.
As an example, in my short life I already went to 3 phases in my interactions with girls. 1. I actually didn’t care about girls –> no succes
2. I started caring about them and read a bunch of pick up stuff –> no succes AND huge social failures aka I became desperate
3. I stopped caring about the results of the evening, but I definitely still care. If there’s an opportunity now I will jump right on it, something I would’ve never done one or two years ago.
I think there are two different types of caring, caring as in looking ahead and adjusting your work ethic and choices by it (being rational). And, caring about useless things that are out of your control.
In other words the only way to not care but still care and live happy is by having the proper belief systems.
Come back in 5 years and let us know if you’ve changed. Post was tailored primarily to people who’ve already made it they’ll get a good laugh because they’ll know the exact feeling.
When you’re just starting, yes you’ll care about everything. We’re interested to see what happens later check back in 2022 to this post! You won’t regret it we guarantee.
Desire without attachment
Execution above outcome
So in other words think positive thoughts and youll create positive events, think negative thoughts (desperation/needing) and youll get so unnerved your performance dies
Positive thoughts is definitely not it. It’s about not caring about the outcome.
Enormous difference, there are many positive people who are broke all the time.
You have to be loose and unattached.
Positive thoughts is what everyone says “works” so naturally it doesn’t!
Fair point re: positive thinking.
However it seems a little contradictory to strive to work day and night to achieve something while remaining loose & unattached about the results.
It sure is! Much easier said than done
As you’ve already revealed… one does not work day and night when he has made it increasing his luck.
You’ll work hard from 20-26 or so after that it becomes significantly easier.
Aaaah okay see where youre coming from fair play
The wrong way around. Successful actions/results lead to positive thoughts. Nobody likes sucking at something and positive thoughts will do nothing for your pnl. If you want a different outcome, do something different.
Yes this blog post is primarily for people who have done the work but need that “spark” to rise into the upper level.
My dating cycle was like this:
1. Did not care that much; resulted in no “game”.
2. Started to read about psychology and being more socially observant. Kind of obsessed over it. Had some success, but mostly had stress and cared a lot.
3. After some time, a new focus in life takes away from dating women for a while. Suddenly you realize that you are getting more in bed even if you aren’t focused 100%.
This happens in other departments in life (i.e. sports, gambling, etc.) like a cycle. If you are novice in something, not caring or obsessing will definitely hurt you. But once you achieve that level where you practice and hone the skills necessary, the mental side plays a huge role. I believe this is why “happy go lucky” people succeed. Because they aren’t in a huge pressure, they perform their full potential efficiently.
I would say the easiest way to get started it have a smile on your face all the time. There’s a research that found you can also feel happy because of you smile (vice versa is obviously true). Happiness – composure/ease of mind – luck will follow
Good post. The phrase to sum it up would be “outcome independence”
Another example of this would be that it always seems your best ideas, solutions to problems, etc, come to you when you aren’t exerting effort to solve them or maybe you aren’t even thinking about it at all.
You care about getting to the finish line, but you don’t care what path gets you there
“The most engaged, yet the least attached wins”
Google “Truth About Success – The Most ENGAGED Yet Least ATTACHED WINS!”
people hate on the PUA dudes but this guy has some wisdom
Another example of this would be that it always seems your best ideas, solutions to problems, etc, come to you when you aren’t exerting effort to solve them or maybe you aren’t even thinking about it at all.
PUA still exists? Thought those places died already.
Funny. Let’s not forget PUA is a hustle. A $$$ PUA is $$$.
The key is realizing you have all that you need and truly believing it. The idea of lack is born out of comparison to others in a society that sets a “benchmark” on what “having things” is. When you believe you have everything you need, you get everything you ever wanted.
Not one for esoteric/”woo-woo” thoughts, but this is true for girls, fitness, and business.
‘We’re only going to live for a 100 years or so and none of that valuable time should be wasted on “discovering the meaning of life”.’
Thanks for this. Easy to get sucked into it. Reminds me of a beautiful quote from Richard Feynman, which I made my desktop wallpaper for a while: “Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough.”
A lot of this makes me think back to the realization I had in college and a common misconception people have about academics and social life alongside how it has all played out now.
“He parties so he must not have good grades”
“He makes good grades so he obviously must be a dork with no social life”
Talk about getting to have your cake and eat it too!
The reality was that the guys in the top fraternities who were dating the hottest girls and partying the hardest also had the best grades and were often better off after college. Majority of these were the guys who ended up in Big 4 consulting or on Wall Street, at worst they went to med school or dental school.
Most of these guys also came from wealthy families and had strong male figures in their lives early on so they got a really strong head start on the game. I compare that to a lot of the poor kids I knew who went to college and kids who were more of the late bloomer kinds, it was a nastier experience for them. A lot of lonely nights, not much partying, not on the radar for hot girls (who were mostly in sororities), and even after it most were having a tough time but some did get it together.
I found a significant number in this crowd moved back home with parents after university and were lost after it. Thankfully some did figure it out and got back on their feet not long after but compared to the rich frat bros, they were far behind. Better late than never though!
As for your post, I have found that happiness in life comes from dopamine rushes and to an extent accomplishing stuff. Making money, getting drinks, enjoying life, banging random women, and occasionally helping make the world a slightly better place but not being one of those losers that preaches about finding a bigger purpose.
This is 100% accurate. Great observations!
I agree with you there on having male figures early in life and having wealthy parents, I had none of those as my father was pussy whipped by my mom. You can definitely include me in the “kids who were more of the late bloomer kinds, it was a nastier experience for them” category when it comes to college. Sure I got some nerd friends and I still talk to them, but I would’ve been happier if I am not still a virgin today. I got my job at a top tech company but Seattle’s social/dating life isn’t cutting it for me. As WSP said, $10k when you’re young is worth more than $50k when you’re old as a vegetable, so I’m going to move to NYC and save $10k less a year, but actually meet women that I want to meet. Yes, that would be $500k over 10 years when I’m old as a vegetable, but who cares when I’ll have $5m minimum by that time anyways?
Christ – those poor kids were me. Were you stalking me transatlantically?
Huh, this sounds like the reverse of Murphy’s law.
Someone’s been reading Felix Dennis.
wsps…do you guys believe in visualization and the law of attraction? Getting what you want in life by using the invinsible power of your mind -which is visualization. I heard Mike C. mention it in a podcast and he always preached about your imagination creates your reality. I heard Reverand Ike and Neville Goddard preach about it. Just want to know your thoughts since you briefly mentioned not too long ago about the power of the subconscious mind. Thank you.
Not a Q&A.
You’re treated according to your attitude. Whether you’re burdened or have options, it shows.
From the post and my own experiences, it seems that an outcome independent attitude is what leads to luck.
If think you need *that* particular event, probably won’t get it. You’ll be stressed, under perform, etc.
Realize there will be another opportunity for x around the corner? the outcome doesn’t matter so much.
As a young, hungry guy of course I care about the outcome. I try not to care about a particular outcome though.
I noticed this chasing clients, when I didn’t care if they signed up because I knew I had another 6 potential clients that week to see, they were more likely to sign-up. This lead to improved confidence and a steam roll.
The hardest part is remembering there is always another option a few phone calls/approaches/whatever away when you are in the moment trying to close a particular event.
I love that outcome independent thing you mentioned there. I put a few grand into ethereum thinking it’ll just crash and burn. If I didn’t have that outcome independence of what happens, I probably would’ve sold by the time it went from $200 to $140, but I really didn’t care and slept well at night. It’s at $240 now and I still don’t care.
The problem of those who wait. Strokes of luck and many unpredictable
factors are needed for a higher person, who contains the dormant solution
to a problem, to go into action at the right time, “into explosion” you might
say. This does not usually happen, and in every corner of the earth people
sit waiting, hardly knowing how much they are waiting, much less that
they are waiting in vain. And every once in a while, the alarm call will
come too late, the chance event that gives them “permission” to act, – just
when the prime of youth and strength for action has already been depleted
by sitting still. And how many people have realized in horror, just as they
“jump up,” that their limbs have gone to sleep and their spirit is already
too heavy! “It’s too late” – they say, having lost faith in themselves and
being useless from this point on. – They say “Raphael born without hands would have still been the greatest painter” Perhaps this is not true? Perhaps genius is not rare at
all: what is rare is the five hundred hands that it needs to tyrannize over laziness, waiting for “the right time,” in order to seize hold of chance!
I think that it’s often the simple result of being in the right place at the right time. And sometimes that’s all you need for your life to change forever. Just go out and do what you want. Most of all do something that you like doing. The luck and money will come if learn ideas to build your wealth with what you love doing.
WSPs… great post this blog is gold! Good (LUCK) on the launch of your upcoming book will defiantly get my hands on it!
Thanks guys, advid reader. Just got my first job in CRM Software Sales because of this blog. I’ll look to build 3-5 years of experience then try jump across into Enterprise Software Sales sometime after.
Stopped being so obsessed with PUA, got a 2nd job on the weekend in hospitality. I’ve found in the past my entire focus on pick up has probably been detrimental to results, it’s like they can smell it.
Anyway can’t wait to pick up efficiency when it’s out,
Cheers from Australia.
Hi Luke,
I’m a 19 year old Engineering student in New Zealand who has B2C sales experience, also very interested in entering software sales.
I would love to have a short conversation with you on Facebook/Skype to ask a few questions and would be happy to adjust to your busy schedule.
Stand by for the next QnA!
Sure whats your skype
Loved this, especially the comments! It’s just until now that I appreciated more how lucky I am to land on this site 5 years ago (that’s 2012 brother).
On a side note, you guys sticking with this blog is such a blessing from the above. Not only did it improved your writing (LOL),.. but also our lives!
I like Step 9
King Solomon, wealthy and wise king hated life and said everything is meaningless.
Related to Step 8, he also mentioned “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour” (Ecclesiastes 2:24)
Solomon knew how to create luck.
God´s humor is nasty. He loves to play screwing with negative people.
If you have a process that has an edge, over time your results will be positively skewed. Regulars will call it luck. Wrong.
People tend to put more weight on outlier events, both on + events and – events. They buy lotto tickets as well as life insurance.
It’s all about edge in the process in most life endeavours.
I would argue that a solid process will reduce bad luck/negative skew setting you up for positive skew/luck events.
No need for lotto, or life insurance.
Post and comments reminded me of the final scene in the ‘Rounders’ movie, when Matt Damon on route to WSOP thought out loud: people insist on calling it luck.
When is the book releasing? I am wasting my time (totally inefficient, but too excited) hitting f5 on this website every 2 hours lol. Super excited.
“Create a website entirely made for the laughs since blogging for money is foolish.”
You had me fooled there for awhile.
It’s all about the stuff described above…
https://www.amazon.com/Luck-Factor-Scientific-Study-Lucky/dp/151137683X
Author is a prominent, solid academic (in UK, professor = full professor) who used to be a stage magician.
“Luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity.”
– Seneca
Would you call this the law of attraction?
The part average people will never, ever understand is that discipline is the catalyst to positive mood states.
Getting started creates the feel-good chemicals average Joe’s are addicted to/think they need before being able to take action.
This is why, as you say, motivation is BS but an amazing money-making opportunity!
I know so, because that’s how I’m generating a large percentage of my income today (thanks to this site and Efficiency, of course!).
Thank you for the high-value ACTIONABLE information; keep it up, gents!
Can’t believe how accurate you are, especially with the ex-girlfriends and flings…goes to show you get what you want when you stop wanting it