Luck and Opportunity
I was thinking to myself awhile ago, what is the definition of opportunity?
And the return in my mind’s search engine was:
opportunity is the state where conditions make it possible to do a certain act and claim the rewards.
But it wasn’t as clear as that definition when it sprouted out of my mind.
So let’s try to pull up the Merriam Webster definition of opportunity:
Opportunity
noun
1: a favorable juncture of circumstances
2: a good chance for advancement or progress
Ok then, what is luck?
Here’s what Marc Andressen quoting by James H. Austin a neurologist-philosopher, defines luck as, using 4 tiers of luck.
Chance I is completely impersonal; you can’t influence it.
Chance II favors those who have a persistent curiosity about many things coupled with an energetic willingness to experiment and explore.
Chance III favors those who have a sufficient background of sound knowledge plus special abilities in observing, remembering, recalling, and quickly forming significant new associations.
Chance IV favors those with distinctive, if not eccentric hobbies, personal lifestyles, and motor behaviors.
I think luck then: is when you seize an opportunity
But let’s check out Merriam Webster again
luck
1: to prosper or succeed especially through chance or good fortune
2: to come upon something desirable by chance — usually used with out, on, onto, or into
I chose the verb because the noun included the “negative” luck or bad luck. But I prefer the verb luck.
How do we then define opportunity?
Rather the better question is: why define what is opportunity?
The reason why is because of the need to search for opportunity, which we know is something good. We look to get good outcomes.
I think one question which has helped me define the criteria for a specific opportunity is Tony Robbin’s question:
How do I get no risk and huge rewards?
It helped me get Airpods and 6000+ pesos in Revenue over the last 2 years.
