Serendipity Surface Area

We may not control the outcome, but we can help a good outcome find us.

By many accounts, Scott Adams is a lucky guy. 

Many people dream of making it as a cartoonist. Very few do so. 

Adams created Dilbert, one of the most successful comic strips in history. He also has a (self-reported) IQ of 185.

So, surely he's lucky, right? Adams has an interesting take:

Was my eventual success primarily a result of talent, luck, hard work, or an accidental just-right balance of each? All I know for sure is that I pursued a conscious strategy of managing my opportunities in a way that would make it easier for luck to find me.

Some people start from a privileged place, but no matter what our circumstances may be, there is always something we can do. We have agency. 

Seeing someone’s success as the result of "luck" can prevent us from looking at all that we could do — and how fear often gets in the way.

We must accept the things we cannot change, but we also need the courage to change the things we can.

The more we see success as the result of luck, the less likely we are to do all that we can so that luck or serendipity or grace might find us.