Be ready to ride the wave
Take advantage of any good luck that strikes
I’ve long been fascinated by the concept of one-hit wonders. Some people get really lucky with something in life. And then they just sort of disappear. Some people, on the other hand, get a big break and then manage to keep going afterwards. The second thing they do might not be as cool as the first, but it buys them the chance to do a third thing, and so on.
A lot of that comes down to being ready to ride the wave. We can’t necessarily control what waves come our way. But we can be prepared to take advantage of what luck does happen.
The first step in doing so is thinking about what sorts of luck are most likely to strike you. In my line of work, this is pretty straightforward. Some content goes viral for reasons you wish you understood (see this, for example, which I have not managed to do anything with, though I did run with this topic, which also got spread broadly). Or someone with a lot of influence decides to champion you, or you get a chance to show your ideas on a big stage.
In other kinds of work, maybe it’s less obvious, but there’s still probably something. Maybe you run a non-profit that’s accustomed to operating on a shoe string. What if a funder offered you more than your current annual budget, no strings attached? Or maybe you operate a small company that sells goods online, and the hottest celebrity of the moment is photographed holding your wares. Maybe you work for a large corporation, and your CEO summons you to her office to say she’s heard your team is doing amazing things and she wants to drastically raise your budget and have you share what you’re doing with the entire leadership team.
