Millionaire Principle 1/100: How to Maximize Past, Present, and Future Luck
So, I'm paddle boarding on the open ocean, just me, my cheap Costco board, and... a 55,000-pound humpback whale that exploded out of the water just yards from me.
Several hours earlier, in the early light of dawn, I hauled my board onto my pickup truck, drove to the beach park, and scanned the horizon looking for signs of whales. After several minutes, I spotted the mist of a whale and its baby a mile or two offshore. It appeared to be heading North, so I jumped onto my board and began to paddle aggressively in a direction far in front of where the whales had been. It took thirty minutes of hard paddling to get to where I thought the whales might be, but then I saw them - miles away in the wrong direction. They had changed course and were speeding away from me.
Not to be deterred, I waited for another sign of a whale and, within minutes, saw the faint wisp of the spray from another whale, much further out. I began to paddle ahead of where that whale seemed to be heading, only to have the whale dive deep and disappear entirely.
This same scenario played out two more times, and just when I was about to give up, an explosion of sound, water, and gray mass erupted like a volcano less than fifty feet in front of me, breaching and lifting all 50,000+ pounds of herself into the air. The whale landed with a second explosion of water, the shockwave on the water hitting my boat within seconds. Then, she jumped again. And again. I swear she knew I was there and was putting on a show just for me.
A mile or two away, on the many white sand beaches that line the shores of South Maui, tourists were witnessing the spectacle, gazing through their binoculars at the incredible sea creature and its ballerina act. With a pair of binoculars, one such tourist noticed the small paddleboard with the bearded man and said to his friend on the beach, "Wow, how lucky is that guy?! What are the odds that the whale would jump right next to him!?"
Luck. It's a funny concept. And a strange choice for starting a list of 100 different principles that made me a millionaire. But how can I truthfully begin any other way?
I was born incredibly lucky. I wasn't born in Ireland amid the 1845 potato famine. I didn't try to make my way through life as a slave in the Roman Empire or pre-Civil War America. I wasn't born in a culture where education was forbidden or entrepreneurship, rejected.
I was born to good parents in America in the late twentieth century. What are the odds? One in a million, maybe more. So, it's luck that put me in this position.
And it's luck that put you in your position.
You might not think you're all that lucky, but when you compare your circumstances to almost every other time in human history, how can you not cry out to God in a shout of pure gratitude? The deck has been stacked so extreme in my favor. And it's also been stacked in your favor.
Not in every regard, of course. You were born with incredible luck in some areas, as I was. And in some areas, you were born with terrible luck, as I also was. I wasn't lucky to be born into wealth - we were lower-middle class. I wasn't lucky enough to have any early mentors to show me the way to wealth. I wasn't lucky enough to have gotten smart enough to get into a good college or understand complex financial lessons.
So it's not luck itself that makes one successful... but rather what you do with the luck you are given AND what do you do to put yourself in a position for new luck to blossom?
Let's quickly revisit my story.
Was the tourist on the beach correct? Was I lucky to have the whale explode into the air so close to me?
Absolutely.
Lucky me.
But... would I have gotten lucky in that situation had I not got up at the crack of dawn, loaded my heavy board onto my pickup truck, drove the beach, scanned the horizon, and failed several times at getting an encounter with a whale?
Absolutely not.
Therefore, the principle for today, number 1 of 100, is this:
Maximize Your Past, Present, and Future Luck
How?
First, to maximize your past luck, be aware and grateful for the luck you have had. Look for it - it's there. Find ways for that luck to fit into your quest for success. Let me give you an example. One area of luck I had from an early age is my writing ability. Now, I'm no William Faulkner or J. K. Rowling, but I can put together words. So, in my quest for wealth, I looked for businesses where I could use my writing skills to make money, and I found "blogging." So I started my first blog, www.RealEstateInYourTwenties.com, which led me later to BiggerPockets and the podcast and everything else I've done since.
To maximize your present luck, Look for it every day. Assume the universe is conspiring to help you, not harm you. That attitude will serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy, making you more lucky in the process. If you believe you are lucky, you'll become lucky. Now, I don't believe this is any mystical, magical thing. It's simply the power of your mind: it continually must sort through millions of pieces of data daily and attempt to bring to the forefront only things that matter to you. It's like when you're thinking about buying a new car, let's say, a Tesla. Suddenly, you start to notice those Teslas everywhere. Now, you didn't manifest those Teslas, but your brain simply took in all the noise of the universe and decided, "Hey, this is something I need to notice." The same is true for luck: make sure your brain knows you are lucky and that you're looking for luck.
And to maximize your future luck, you must prepare for it. As the old adage goes, "luck is when opportunity meets preparation." You can do this in several ways. For example, you can:
Stay Prepared and Informed: Continuously develop your skills and knowledge. The more prepared you are, the better you can take advantage of opportunities.
Network and Connect: Build and maintain a broad network of contacts. Often, opportunities come from people you know or meet unexpectedly.
Be Open to New Experiences: Trying new things can lead to unexpected opportunities. This can mean exploring new industries, hobbies, or even cultures.
Set Clear Goals: Knowing what you want helps you recognize opportunities that align with your goals.
Be Adaptable: The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and pivot when necessary puts you in a better position to capitalize on unforeseen opportunities.
Take Calculated Risks: Sometimes, luck favors the bold. Calculated risks can lead to high rewards.
Stay Attentive to Trends and Patterns: Knowing what's happening in your field and the world at large can help you anticipate and prepare for emerging opportunities.
Give Back and Help Others: Sometimes, helping others can lead to unforeseen opportunities and beneficial connections. Plus, it's fulfilling in its own right.
Maximizing my past, present, and future luck made me a millionaire by 30. And it can help you achieve incredible success, wealth, happiness, health, deep relationships, and freedom.
So go get lucky.
Love you,
Brandon