About Luck!
I have been on this planet for nearly 36 years and some more time. Being here for so long has given me some perspective and wisened me a bit. It has given me an appreciation of serendipitous events. The unplanned events or decisions that change the trajectory of your life.
It may be about career, getting accepted by the VC whose program you decided to apply on a whim. The date you went on because you were bored or hungry which blossomed into something else. That old boss who remembered you when he was expanding his team at the new company.
A lot of these can be ascribed to being lucky. Being at the right place at the right time. So is being lucky the only factor in our life? After all, Napolean did say about a general when deciding whom to take for war - “ Yes he is good, but is he lucky?”. Are we all in a simulation?
I do not completely agree, yes being at the right moment at the right time matters. And yes, luck and destiny are far more important in our success than we give them credit for. But the fact is that being present at the right place happens because you have taken a path to get here.
The VC accepted me because I had worked hard towards starting up. I had been planning this for two years. I applied when they decided to expand in India and that helped. While the date was because I was hungry, the discussion that led to finding my partner was because both of us were interested in the business models of various startups. That interest was built over a period of time. It clicked when I found somebody else who was as weird as me. The old boss remembered me because I had called him up and spoken to him when he was leaving the company. I had no reason to do so, I did not need any favor. I had just done it because he had been nice to me.
So in some ways, we all make our luck. It is from a combination of curiosity, being good to others, being fair in our dealings, and accumulating good Karma.
Be nice to others! Start making your own Luck!
I do hope, I start being nicer! I need more luck and I hope to be more successful!
