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The Surprising Science of Creating Your Own Fortune
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have all the luck? Why Harrison Ford's chance encounter with George Lucas while working as a carpenter led to iconic roles in Star Wars and Indiana Jones? Or why certain individuals repeatedly land on their feet despite setbacks? Luck isn't just a mystical force that randomly bestows good fortune on the chosen few. After extensive research combining psychology, behavioral economics, mathematics, and neuroscience, Janice Kaplan and Barnaby Marsh discovered that real luck occurs at the intersection of chance, talent, and hard work. Their national bestseller has transformed countless readers' perspectives on fortune, with celebrities and business leaders alike citing its principles for their success. The book's cultural impact extends beyond self-help, challenging our fundamental understanding of randomness and human agency in a seemingly chaotic world.
2장
The Three-Part Formula for Creating Luck
Luck isn't purely random-it's a sophisticated blend of chance, talent, and hard work. While chance remains beyond our control, we can actively develop and enhance the other two components. Our comprehensive national survey revealed that 82% of Americans believe they directly influence luck in their lives, with 67% specifically crediting hard work for lucky outcomes and 64% citing curiosity and actively seeking new opportunities. These statistics demonstrate a widespread understanding that luck can be cultivated.
Throughout history, luck has been conceptualized in fascinating ways-from the Roman goddess Fortuna who spun the wheel of fate, to modern game shows like Wheel of Fortune and Deal or No Deal, which strategically combine chance, skill, and effort. People who appear naturally lucky are often masterful at weaving together consistent effort, developed skill, and recognition of opportunity. They demonstrate what researchers call "prepared mind" - the ability to spot and seize favorable circumstances.
Lucky individuals share several distinctive traits and behaviors: they demonstrate extraordinary persistence (like the determined child who finds a four-leaf clover while others quickly give up), remain consistently attentive to possibilities around them, and genuinely believe in their own capacity for luck. As Stanley Kowalski memorably declared in "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Luck is believing you're lucky, that's all." This mindset creates a self-fulfilling prophecy - when unexpected events occur, what truly matters is your interpretation and response to them.
Seemingly serendipitous moments-meeting your future spouse at a party, chatting with a CEO in an elevator, or stumbling upon a life-changing business opportunity-actually require decisive action and preparation. Consider Alice Martell, who transformed a casual comment at a publishing event into a successful career as a literary agent by following up immediately and building relationships. Similarly, entrepreneur Sara Blakely turned a simple hosiery modification idea into the billion-dollar Spanx empire by remaining alert to market opportunities. Lucky people consistently recognize and act on opportunities that others might dismiss or overlook entirely.
Even everyday instances of luck, like consistently finding parking spots in crowded cities or catching flights despite delays, aren't random occurrences-they require keen observation, accumulated knowledge, and thorough preparation. Understanding the fundamental principles behind luck makes it both predictable and explicable. Getting access to the right information-having what we might call a "flashlight" for life's dark tunnels-helps you create your own good fortune. This might mean developing industry expertise, building strong networks, or maintaining awareness of emerging trends and opportunities.
The most consistently lucky people approach life with a combination of optimism and pragmatism, understanding that while they can't control every circumstance, they can significantly improve their odds of success through preparation, persistence, and positive expectation. They create systems and habits that maximize their exposure to potentially lucky situations while maintaining the skills and mindset necessary to capitalize on them when they arise.
3장
Seeing Opportunities Others Miss
Knowing where to look is crucial for capturing luck. We're bombarded with 2.5 quintillion bytes of data daily - equivalent to streaming 150,000 HD movies simultaneously - and our focus determines which opportunities we notice. While obvious "pop-out" luck like lottery wins announces itself, most lucky opportunities arrive subtly, requiring flexible attention and a trained eye to spot them in the noise of daily life.
The ability to switch between narrow focus (counting basketball passes) and wider awareness (noticing the gorilla in the famous attention experiment) allows us to spot possibilities others miss. This cognitive flexibility is what separates consistently lucky people from others. For instance, successful entrepreneurs often describe finding business opportunities in everyday frustrations that others simply accept as unchangeable facts of life. Take Sara Blakely, who turned her frustration with traditional pantyhose into Spanx, now a billion-dollar company, by seeing an opportunity where others saw only an annoyance.
Even seemingly impossible odds can be overcome-like Leicester City's 5,000-to-1 championship victory in 2016. This wasn't just luck - it was the result of smart recruiting, innovative training methods, and persistent belief in their strategy. Similar examples exist across fields: Apple's 1997 near-bankruptcy to becoming the world's most valuable company, or Netflix transforming from a DVD-rental service to a streaming giant when others claimed it was impossible.
We often misinterpret statistics and odds, failing to see how they apply to our specific situations. The key insight is to "pick the statistic you want to be." While one-third of Americans may be obese, that doesn't mean every individual has a one-in-three chance-your choices about diet and exercise determine which statistic you'll represent. Consider startup success rates: while overall failure rates are high, companies with experienced founders, adequate funding, and strong market research have significantly better odds.
Similarly, when evaluating risks like co-sleeping with infants, understanding the specific factors that contribute to danger allows you to make informed decisions. The general statistic might show elevated risk, but this changes dramatically based on factors like parental smoking, alcohol use, sleep surface design, and parental awareness. By controlling these variables, parents can significantly alter their risk profile.
General statistics rarely apply perfectly to individual circumstances, giving you the power to create your own luck through deliberate choices. Warren Buffett exemplifies this principle - while most investors lose money trying to beat the market, he's succeeded by developing specific criteria for investment opportunities and patiently waiting for them to appear. By understanding where to look and how to interpret probability, you can position yourself to notice and capitalize on opportunities that others miss entirely. This might mean developing expertise in an emerging field, building unique skill combinations, or simply training yourself to question assumptions that others take for granted.
4장
The Power of Human Connections
Lara Galinsky creates "luck circles" at conferences instead of traditional bonding exercises. She divides attendees into random groups of five where each person shares one thing they need to get lucky. As these small groups expand and mingle, people carry "five people's dreams in their pocket," creating controlled chaos that regularly produces shouts of delight when connections happen. This approach applies emergence theory-small interactions creating bigger payoffs. When people are declarative about their desires, they create conditions for luck.
Cornell sociology professor Victor Nee discovered why cities like New York develop powerful innovation clusters. His research on the city's tech community revealed that "spatial dynamics support the serendipitous recombination of ideas"-Manhattan's density makes face-to-face interactions inevitable. After collecting data on 50,000 members of New York Tech Meetup and millions of interactions, Nee found that frequent encounters create "knowledge spillover" where ideas are freely shared without expectation of direct reciprocity.
Henry Jarecki, a successful entrepreneur who built and sold multiple companies, credits much of his fortune to a simple philosophy: "I went to every party." Though naturally cerebral, he forced himself to attend social events knowing the party he skipped might contain the person who could change his life. This approach resembles fishing-casting multiple lines increases your chances of success.
I tested this theory on a flight by deliberately leaving off my headphones and starting a conversation with my seatmate about his entertainment magazines. This led to meeting David Steinberg, personal manager to stars like Bette Midler and Billy Crystal. David's career exemplified how connections create luck-from his early days bonding with Sammy Davis Jr. and attending parties with Frank Sinatra to building his own PR company. His success came from understanding reciprocity: "if you want other people to make you lucky, you need to make them feel lucky, too."
Dr. Barabasi observed that "once upon a time people were born into communities and had to find their individuality. Today people are born individuals and have to find their communities." Being part of multiple communities dramatically increases your chances of encountering lucky opportunities through expanded weak ties and invisible webs. To activate these connections, take genuine action within your social circles-call acquaintances you haven't spoken with in a while, engage with strangers in coffee shops or parks, and let people know what you need to get lucky.
5장
The Advantage of Unconventional Thinking
Dr. James Watson, who discovered DNA's structure with Francis Crick in 1953, exemplifies how unconventional thinking creates extraordinary luck. Nearly ninety but still vigorous, Watson told Barnaby that "a lot of luck in life is seeing what others don't see" and "you rarely make great breakthroughs by staying only on a standard path." While most scientists of his era focused on proteins as the likely carriers of genetic information, Watson and Crick daringly pursued DNA's structure when it was considered a "messy molecule." Despite social pressures to follow popular research directions, Watson insisted "one must think for oneself!" His memoir title *Avoid Boring People* carries dual meaning-don't bore others and avoid mundane people and ideas. This philosophy guided him to numerous breakthroughs beyond the double helix, including pioneering roles in the Human Genome Project.
Television executive Mike Darnell demonstrates how being original creates luck in entertainment. Despite his unconventional appearance-just over five feet tall with long curly hair and typically dressed in jeans and cowboy boots-Darnell rose to run Warner Bros' television division. In the late 1990s, before reality TV became mainstream, he created controversial but highly-rated Fox specials like *When Animals Attack!* and *Breaking the Magician's Code*. While networks focused on traditional scripted programming, Darnell recognized untapped viewer interest in raw, unfiltered content. His strategy was deliberately different: "I was looking for a lane I could take where I didn't have to compete with everyone... Looking for a different lane that would be my own." This contrarian approach led him to champion shows others dismissed as too outrageous or lowbrow.
Taking an unexpected path brings luck by accessing overlooked opportunities. Darnell succeeded by being boldly different in business while personally risk-averse, carefully testing concepts before full deployment. His unconventional approach led to acquiring *American Idol*, which became a television phenomenon generating billions in revenue. When competitors rushed to copy his success, Darnell had already moved on to new formats. Biologists call this strategy "systematic unpredictability"-like rabbits that "jink" with random movements to evade predators. This principle applies across fields - being predictable makes you vulnerable to competition.
Mathematician Steven Strogatz creates luck through unconventional thinking in academia. Despite prestigious credentials from Princeton, Cambridge, and Harvard, he pursues unexpected paths, studying phenomena like firefly synchronization and human sleep patterns. When his PhD student Duncan Watts connected cricket chirp synchronization to the "six degrees of separation" concept, most scientists dismissed it as far-fetched. Yet their resulting paper on small-world networks became their most significant work, spawning an entirely new field of network science. Strogatz advocates revisiting "dead ends" that others have abandoned, noting that sometimes "the best areas to pursue are the most unfashionable." He particularly values examining connections between seemingly unrelated fields.
Game theory supports this approach-unpredictability provides advantage in competitive situations, whether in nature, business, or academia. While risky, balancing bold exploration with realistic assessment maximizes lucky outcomes. Most importantly, Strogatz believes playfulness leads to lucky discoveries: "When a problem seems like fun, you'll think about it incessantly," increasing chances of breakthrough. This combination of serious purpose with playful exploration characterizes many major innovations, from Watson and Crick's model-building to Darnell's entertainment experiments.
6장
Persistence, Passion, and Optimism: The Luck Trifecta
Deepak Chopra suggests starting each day by asking "Who am I?" and "What do I want?" to align actions with goals. This self-awareness isn't mystical but practical-once you've declared your desires to yourself, you naturally direct energy toward them. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman's research confirms this: people who stated at age eighteen that financial success was important to them earned significantly more twenty years later-about $14,000 additional income for each point higher they rated money's importance.
Physicist Leonard Mlodinow views persistence as a crucial strand in luck's rope. While talent matters, willingness to keep trying despite failure ultimately determines success. Someone who succeeds only 1% of the time but tries 100 times can match the results of a superstar who succeeds 99% of the time but tries only once. Bestselling authors like John Grisham (rejected 28 times), Dr. Seuss, and J.K. Rowling (rejected 12 times) demonstrate how persistence through rejection creates what appears to be extraordinary luck.
Movie producer Doug Wick's career exemplifies how passion and persistence create luck in Hollywood. Despite early rejections for "Working Girl," which later earned an Academy Award nomination, Wick persisted with what he calls "informed optimism." His success with films like "Gladiator" and the "Divergent" series came not from algorithms but from deep study of what makes great movies work. As Wick puts it, "Love what you are doing, and the luck is there."
Once you achieve success, you're more likely to have another-what economist W. Brian Arthur calls "the theory of increasing returns." His research shows that popular products become even more popular, creating a positive feedback loop that applies to everything from technology companies to bestselling books.
Contrary to commencement speech wisdom, passion isn't something you're born with or that arrives in an epiphany. As psychologist Angela Duckworth explains in her book "Grit," passion develops through "a little bit of discovery, followed by a lot of development, and then a lifetime of deepening." This persistence-driven approach to passion is exemplified by New Yorker cover artist Mark Ulriksen, who has created over fifty covers despite countless rejections.
Optimism joins persistence and passion as a key trait for creating luck. Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, confirms that "optimistic people have the cognitive disposition to take advantage of good events and not get bogged down hugely by bad ones." Though naturally pessimistic himself, Seligman emphasizes that optimism is "eminently changeable" by teaching people to recognize and argue against their catastrophic thoughts.
7장
Strategic Risk Management: Eggs and Baskets
Diversifying your activities and investments is a strategic approach to creating luck. Just as financial advisors recommend spreading investments across stocks, bonds and commodities to balance risk, maintaining multiple career paths or interests provides security and opportunity. When one avenue closes, another remains open. This explains why people who seem consistently lucky often have varied interests and pursuits-they've created multiple channels for good fortune to flow through.
While we celebrate legends like Fred Smith gambling FedEx's last $5,000 in Vegas to save the company, these stories misleadingly suggest that putting all eggs in one basket creates luck. The reality is more nuanced. Smith had been developing his company's foundations for years, writing about the concept in college and learning logistics in the Marines. Similarly, Kate Spade's success wasn't just about quitting her magazine job to make handbags-her husband Andy maintained his advertising career while supporting their business.
Even Warby Parker's billion-dollar success came from founders who maintained backup plans and other interests. These safety nets didn't dilute their focus but instead provided the security and perspective needed for innovative thinking and calculated risk-taking.
Balancing focus and diversification is crucial for creating luck. One magazine editor I knew kept her work life completely compartmentalized, maintaining separate devices and contacts while constantly preparing for her next role. But this extreme hedging came at a cost-never fully investing in the present. The most effective approach is maintaining 2-3 options: a primary path, a related fallback, and possibly a completely different third option.
This strategy proved successful for Alex Abelin, who left Google to start LiquidTalent while simultaneously advising LiquidWiFi. When his first company failed, he seamlessly transitioned to the second, which was later purchased by Verizon for a substantial sum. This wasn't just luck-it was strategic planning that doubled his chances of success.
There are only two scenarios where putting all eggs in one basket makes sense: when the potential payoff is extraordinarily high (like competing in the Olympics), or when that single basket represents survival itself. Otherwise, distributing your efforts strategically creates more opportunities for luck.
8장
Turning Misfortune into Opportunity
Even with all our strategies for creating luck, random bad events happen to everyone. Yet perspective matters enormously. Astrophysicist Piet Hut suggests we can transform bad luck by stepping outside ourselves to see situations more broadly-like viewing a forest from above rather than feeling lost within it. What seems terrible today might become fortunate tomorrow.
Author Lee Child transformed devastating bad luck into extraordinary success. After being fired from his television job of thirteen years, with a mortgage, car loan, and daughter to support, Child channeled his anger into creating Jack Reacher-a character who shares his creator's steely resolve. Child's advice for turning bad luck around: "Try something. Anything... identify your dream, and go for it 110%. Trust me, your motivation will never be as strong. And the chance might never come your way again."
Baroness Susan Greenfield, a renowned scientist studying brain physiology, was unceremoniously dismissed as director of the Royal Institution after twelve years. Facing what felt like "staring into the abyss," she maintained her composure through the public scandal. Rather than dwelling on the setback, she focused on her passionate scientific work, eventually founding a biotech company that excites her daily. She calls this "Cosmic Argos"-putting your thoughts out and receiving what you need.
Even in life's darkest moments, perspective can transform misfortune. Monica Holloway overcame a traumatic childhood with an abusive father and later faced her son's autism diagnosis, when a neuropsychologist grimly predicted her child would never read, drive or be independent. But that worst moment sparked transformation-hearing Wills laugh at her outburst made her realize they could find joy together. Today, Wills attends college, drives, and lives independently.
Sometimes making luck requires climbing down from one peak to reach a higher one. Barnaby illustrated this with his "local hill-climbing strategy"-drawing mountains on paper to show how companies and individuals must sometimes descend through valleys of difficulty to reach greater heights. Like my friend Lia who endured divorce and uncertainty to find true happiness with a new partner, or Netflix abandoning its DVD-mail model (suffering an 80% stock plunge) before emerging as a streaming giant with original content.
9장
Creating a Lucky Life: The Ultimate Compass
Finding your lucky path requires navigating with a compass rather than a map. Creating a lucky life isn't just about accumulating fortunate events but combining the right ingredients in meaningful ways. Most college students Barnaby studied lacked larger life goals, making luck harder to find. You need context to recognize opportunities-like a baker who suddenly sees potential in forgotten cabinet ingredients once they've started making bread.
Tony Fernandes didn't just stumble into founding AirAsia; he had prepared his plan and recognized the opportunity when plane leasing costs dropped after 9/11. Life isn't like school with clear paths-you must determine your own direction and understand that what constitutes luck changes over time. As Miles Davis said about jazz, there are no wrong notes-it's what you play next that matters.
Prince Talal of Jordan showed me that even those born into privilege must create their own luck. Despite royal lineage, he faced near-fatal injuries in a waterskiing accident at sixteen, spending eight months hospitalized. Ten years later and shortly after marriage, he battled non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Through resilience and determination, he recovered, continued his military career, and now runs marathons. His story demonstrates that regardless of starting circumstances, everyone must respond to random events with hard work and persistence to achieve a lucky life.
While chaos theory suggests tiny changes can lead to major outcomes (like Lorenz's butterfly effect), we still have control over our luck. As Barnaby explains, "There are thousands of butterflies flapping their wings," meaning we have countless opportunities to affect outcomes. The key is not feeling helpless-"The butterfly creates the tornado only if nobody does anything along the way."
After extensively researching luck with Barnaby, I realize I'm feeling luckier by recognizing opportunities, making thoughtful decisions, and persisting through challenges. Our survey showed 67% of people consider themselves lucky, with no demographic differences affecting this perception-suggesting luck might simply be about believing you're lucky.
Dr. George Vaillant's famous Harvard study tracking men for seventy-five years revealed that happiness and health weren't determined by wealth, fame or achievement, but by relationship quality. His five-word conclusion: "Happiness is love. Full stop." To have a lucky life, cultivate happiness, look for positivity, and don't hesitate to share it.
Deepak Chopra values "flow"-being fully present without regrets or anticipation-as the ultimate form of luck. Whether through meditation, writing, or simply walking alone, he suggests the luckiest life comes from finding peace through joy, lightness, and effortless spontaneity.
While we can't control randomness, we can control our opportunities, outlook and life pathways. Luck isn't a moment in time but "the lifetime of moments we make"-like choosing to notice and appreciate sunshine sparkling on water. Every time we do, we are making our luck.
