MWB #40 - Give yourself a room to be lucky
Why I've been away for a while, how to embrace uncertainty and an announcement.
Hello there,
I have missed 4 Thursdays in a row without sending this newsletter. It wasn’t my intention but as turns out, it was my reality. I will tell you a few things about that.
Everything that happened in the month of October for me, I foresaw. And in my plan, I was still expected to send the emails but… but I missed sending the first one. And it became easier to miss the next one as well until I missed four consecutively. If you are a creator, I’m sure you would have gotten the lesson in that.
Straying 10 times is easier after you stray once. If you can prevent straying once, you can prevent straying multiple times.
Some of you reached out to check up on why I’ve been absent. Thank you very much. I’m back now.
Give yourself a room to be lucky
Give yourself a room to be lucky
This phrase jumped at me as being significant for a time like this. It came out of a conversation I was having with a friend. We all need to give ourselves room to be lucky. Because luck is something we all deserve and can make good use of.
We say we are lucky when something good comes our way without expecting it or when we get something beyond our expectations.
If that’s a definition that you agree with, then I can say I’ve been incredibly lucky in life. I have shared my story a lot and won’t repeat them here. But a glimpse of it is that I am sending you this email from an Aparthotel in Central London. Maybe that doesn’t mean a thing to you. But I was raised by a single mother who was told that “women can’t and don’t raise responsible and successful children.” I have proven them wrong.
A common theme underlines all the luck I’ve heard in life and those I’ve observed.
Although it seems underserved or beyond imagination, it is actually well deserved and not out of the realm of possibilities.
Almost all the people that get lucky put themselves in a position to get lucky (knowingly or unknowingly).
I believe 1 and 2 to be true because as Charlie Munger puts it, “the universe is not yet a crazy enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people.”
The question then is how can you be deserving of luck? How can you give yourself room to be lucky? How can you be in a thriving position no matter what life throws at you? I have ideas.
The reason why the conversation between me and my friend went the route where I had to mention that phrase is because of a common problem we all have. We optimize against uncertainty. And in reality, uncertainty is bliss. A measured amount of it is the reason why luck exists. Or is it luck, what we already knew we would get and we got it given the right amount of effort? I bet it isn’t since we both agreed with the definition above.
My friend was supposed to set out on a task that would take him an average of 6 months. And instead of starting immediately, he has spent the last couple of days strategizing. No action, only an illusion of action through the act of… yes, the act of strategizing is an illusion. It gives you the impression that you have started acting but in reality, you haven’t. We all tend to do that. It is also one of the reasons why I have missed the last four newsletters. Thinking of how to do when just going out to do would be enough is a bribe we should all detest.
We spend time thinking about it / strategizing / optimizing etc because we are trying to control all variables in the situation and remove uncertainty. We want to be sure of the outcome. Yet, the universe has not bestowed on us the ability to be able to do that. Otherwise, how can the universe surprise you?
Life never unfolds as we expect it to. Almost never. Embracing the inherent uncertainty in life is how we can give ourselves room to be lucky. Embracing it means taking action even if you are unsure of the outcomes. It means letting go of the absolute control that we seek. It means learning to accept reality as it unfolds instead of staying and wishing for a different kind of reality. When we do this, luck soon knocks on our door.
The period when I was wrapping up my NYSC was one of the most uncertain periods in my life. Confused about what to do next and I had no leverage per se. But as the universe would have it, amidst the uncertainty, I acted, I accept the present and unfolding reality and I let go of the control. The result is the excellent career that I have now. The journey that took me to London is also one I will be sharing when the time calls for it. It follows the same pattern. Takes actions within the uncertainty, let go of absolute control that you seek, and embrace reality as it unfolds no matter what.
I hope that helps someone.
I will like to repeat also that I write this newsletter weekly not because I get paid to do so. No. I write it because I believe sharing my perspective with you can help you lead a better life, and thrive more. My life has been made better by reading other people’s stories as well. So I hope that this also helps you.
Also, I will be taking a break from writing MWB this year-end. At which time, there would have been 50 episodes of this newsletter. It’s been an amazing year with you all. For me though, it is not the end of writing, I want to start a new newsletter. I will be going deep to learn all I can about Decentralized Finance, Stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currency, Bitcoin and all in-between. You can make a new subscription here if you want to join me on that adventure and learn alongside.
See you next week.
"We spend time thinking about it / strategizing / optimizing etc because we are trying to control all variables in the situation and remove uncertainty."
This is my predicament. I find myself overthinking, trying to know and control all the variables.
Thank you for writing this David. And best of luck in your endeavours.