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The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

nautil.us

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Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

#41

Post by mattmanser »

Ntrails wrote: post #28
pm90 wrote: post #16

This is actually a very interesting article. And with the risk of attracting the wrath on internet haters, let me propose something that personally helped me a lot and which seems like a very narrow application of the principles described in the article: meeting romantic partners. I tend to be more open in talking to strangers and that has opened up worlds of opportunities to me. But the biggest benefit has certainly…

> Let me qualify this by saying that I do not condone pestering strangers; that is borderline harassment (especially for women). There is really no way to know in advance whether initiating a conversation with a stranger is welcome or not, the only way to find out is to try. It's unreasonable to place the burden of a person to signal "don't impose yourself on me" when you could simply leave them alone and not take th…

The initial interaction is the point for that, not just never speaking to any one. If they politely or brusquely brush you off, it's harassment if you continue. Not for the initial interaction.

There's also loads of non-verbal cues which guide you to who's open to talking to or not. I don't talk to random people much, but I do get asked for directions all the time, even though I'm a 6'2 guy. I think mainly because I'll happily make eye contact and smile at random people who look as if they're a bit confused or lost. I deliver the non-verbal cue that I'm happy to help if they want it. That triggers people in need to ask for help.

If someone struggles picking up on those cues, it might be worth practising at places where people are supposed to be meeting other people. Meetups, networking events, etc.

Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

#42

Post by maxpupmax »

davebryand wrote: post #37
marcus_holmes wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Atheist-materialist here. Also meditator, and visualiser. It's just psychology. No need to invoke deities.

It's not about deities, it's about whether there are ways to use consciousness to manipulate the material universe. Are there laws of the universe that are knowable through experience and intuition that do not yet have a scientific explanation? The traditions I mention say "yes", I would imagine an atheist-materialist would say "no". I would have said "no" up until just a few months ago.

I think they all seem to have a pretty scientific explanation. Don't we see research on meditation pop up here almost every other week?

I guess I'm pretty firmly in the atheist-materialist camp here. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you to convince you otherwise?

Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

#43

Post by andriesm »

gaurav_v wrote: post #8
andriesm wrote: post #6

I've always wondered about the role that the reticular activating system plays in being lucky. If you are expecting to find good opportunities you may spot them more. I have seen many typical people blunder blindly past once-in-a-lifetime-opportunities. Many people just don't pay attention to massive opportunities. They just don't notice them or seem to not care when these things are right in front of their noses.

Could you give some examples?

Like the other poster mentioned crypto currencies. I've hit many jackpots like this in my life. I have also seen big opportunities that are specific to another person, asked why they don't pursue X or Y, and the responses are quite often non-responses.

I literally begged several of my friends to just put $10 into a specific crypto that went up nearly 500 times. I did put about $100 myself into that one, and of course 20 similar parcels of money into about 20 others.

Of course just citing one example like crypto is not helpful. I had another idea for a totally passive income business, that I for whatever reason didn't feel like pursuing, I tried to convince others of the merits of doing this things. Eventually after about 2 years of failing to convince anyone else to try it, I did it, and made really lucrative money that came in like clockwork with about 2 hrs of effort per month. That thing ran for quite a while and eventually the market changed to not make it work anymore.

I have had some other successes too. I also lost of lot of thr easy money made along the way, but now I am wizer, and my latest money maker (post early crypto buying) I have taken a serious amount of thought about not ever letting it dissapate. I have also had many failures because I have tried many things. But some things really are no brainers.

Another example is buying massive bargains when shopping second hand. The trick to capitalise on a bargain is just 2 steps - step 1 make sure there is no catch (or a sufficient margin of safety) - step 2 - pull the trigger FAST - exceptional bargains don't hang around indefinitely.

Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

#44

Post by gumby »

Ntrails wrote: post #28
pm90 wrote: post #16

This is actually a very interesting article. And with the risk of attracting the wrath on internet haters, let me propose something that personally helped me a lot and which seems like a very narrow application of the principles described in the article: meeting romantic partners. I tend to be more open in talking to strangers and that has opened up worlds of opportunities to me. But the biggest benefit has certainly…

> Let me qualify this by saying that I do not condone pestering strangers; that is borderline harassment (especially for women). There is really no way to know in advance whether initiating a conversation with a stranger is welcome or not, the only way to find out is to try. It's unreasonable to place the burden of a person to signal "don't impose yourself on me" when you could simply leave them alone and not take th…

> There is really no way to know in advance whether initiating a conversation with a stranger is welcome or not, the only way to find out is to try.

I am just massively inhibited in this regard; I don't want to intrude and is it really worth it to them? Not just in line, but even before a talk (i.e. a "networking event") or at a party.

I had a colleague who was the opposite: he could not only strike up a conversation with any random person he happened to be next to, but those often turned into real conversations (e.g. repeated email, contained talking, etc). I could never get the hang of it. (Sad to say this was his only redeeming quality).

Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

#45

Post by davebryand »

olavk wrote: post #32
davebryand wrote: post #10

"The strategies included using meditation to enhance intuition, relaxation, visualizing good fortune, and talking to at least one new person every week." These are basic techniques that have been taught by almost every spiritual system for thousands of years. Unfortunately for all of my atheist-materialist friends, you have to change your metaphysical views to employ these techniques.

Why do you need to believe in Thor (or whatever) in order to relax, talk to new people etc.?

You don't, but relaxing and talking are also not going to change your luck according to the ancient mystery traditions. Visualization, vibration, meditation are some keys, but most atheist-materialists view the belief that one can use those to impact reality the same way they view Thor--as hogwash.

I personally believe all personifications of esoteric laws are man-made and should not be taken literally, so I'm not a big Thor guy, myself.

Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

#46

Post by frgtpsswrdlame »

godelski wrote: post #30
frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #9

I'm skeptical of a definition of luck where you can be trained to be lucky. That's not luck, that's skill. There is no skill to luck by definition. But let's take what we've got here and engage with it: >She came up with a few basic strategies for parents to teach their kids, including being open to new experiences, learning to relax, maintaining social connections, and (yes) talking to strangers. All of these techni…

The harder I work the luckier I am. That saying is really what this article is getting at. There are a lot of opportunities that happen in life. What people CALL luck is highly dependent upon taking action when an opportunity is presented. What the article is saying is that the people we consider lucky are more likely to take advantage of an opportunity. Maybe some people are more lucky than others (I mean stats woul…

But that's what I'm saying in my comment, I even directly address the issue of hard work. To be a hard worker implies all sorts of luck on its own. If you're a hard worker you've probably grown up in an environment where either the value of hard work was present and its importance was impressed on you explicitly or you've learned implicitly by having contact with hard workers and contact with not hard workers where the hard workers were rewarded and the not hard workers weren't (which btw does not happen all the time). Both of those situations take a lot of luck! You're a hard worker, I totally believe that, but that doesn't eliminate or even reduce the role of luck in your life, it masks it, the luck is just further back, playing a role in the development of a hard-work attitude in the first place.

e: So maybe instead of thinking of it like "I'm lucky because I work hard" perhaps we should think of it like "I work hard because I'm lucky."

Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

#47

Post by davebryand »

maxpupmax wrote: post #42
davebryand wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about deities, it's about whether there are ways to use consciousness to manipulate the material universe. Are there laws of the universe that are knowable through experience and intuition that do not yet have a scientific explanation? The traditions I mention say "yes", I would imagine an atheist-materialist would say "no". I would have said "no" up until just a few months ago.

I think they all seem to have a pretty scientific explanation. Don't we see research on meditation pop up here almost every other week? I guess I'm pretty firmly in the atheist-materialist camp here. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you to convince you otherwise?

Thanks for asking. Here is a grab bag in rough order of events. (Spent years 1-20 as Catholic, and years 21-39 as an atheist)

* Leaving my third "failed" startup, post YC. (For the record, my awesome co-founders sold to Cisco after I had left)

* Working with a coach to find and clearly define my deepest values

* Leaving San Francisco to align my life with those values

* Deciding to search for the meaning of life

* Truly realizing that the meaning of life isn't accumulation of money or stuff, and that my identity needn't be tied to those goals

* Wrestling with my ego and deciding it does not deserve primacy

* Donating many of my possessions

* Fasting (many 2-3 day water fasts, 5 day as peak)

* Reading 20-30 books on different spiritual traditions

* Watching hundreds of hours of lectures on esoteric systems and spiritual traditions

* Researching Tarot, Kaballah, Freemasonry, and other ancients systems of enlightenment

* Studying Zen and Taoism

* Learning about [Natural Law](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASUHN3gNxWo) and allowing myself to honestly imagine if that is the way that the universe works

* Experimenting with psychedelics

* Practicing Transcendental Meditation twice daily

* Getting out in nature and learning about plants

* Explicitly working to balance my left and right brain by beginning to trust my intuition

* Keeping a diary of synchronicities and searching for deeper connections than I previously allowed myself to believe could exist

* Opening myself up to the possibility that there is more to the universe than that which has been explained by science

* Learning the eight-circuit model of consciousness

* Researching state of the art physics

* Refactoring, uninstalling or rewriting the legacy operating system and long ago installed background processes that were my subconscious

* Buying a house

* Taking guitar lessons

* Teaching myself to draw

* Releasing fear and deciding to love everyone and everything

* Adopting an amor fati attitude

* Living for the present moment

* Finding my higher self and living out of it on a daily basis

Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

#48

Post by currymj »

gradys wrote: post #31
Ntrails wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Let me qualify this by saying that I do not condone pestering strangers; that is borderline harassment (especially for women). There is really no way to know in advance whether initiating a conversation with a stranger is welcome or not, the only way to find out is to try. It's unreasonable to place the burden of a person to signal "don't impose yourself on me" when you could simply leave them alone and not take th…

I guess it depends on what version of the social contact you think we're all operating with. I'd say the quite minor inconvenience of someone ahead of you in line trying to start a conversation is part of what you sign up for when you go out in public. That is, as long as the initiator is prepared to take the hint when it's clear you don't want to talk.

friendly conversation, sure, but there's enough people who refuse to take a hint that their romantic overture is unwanted. they might even retaliate with really aggressive, angry behavior.

this is rare, but i think it has poisoned the well in some places -- especially for women, these unusual but very frightening situations can make the whole thing have a negative expected value.

Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind

#50

Post by maxxxxx »

corpMaverick wrote: post #7
maxxxxx wrote: post #4

I think the key to good luck is mainly to be lucky and also to have good judgement. When I was younger I was very open minded, pursued a lot of things but I didn't have good judgement in what I did and who I did it with. So in the end a lot of things I did turned out to be big mistakes.

Luckly as you get older your judgment improves. Note. It doesn't mean older people have better judgment. It only means you have better judgment than your younger self.

If you have failed a lot you probably know better when to say "No" but it's still hard to say "Yes" because you don't know what works. You only know what doesn't work. Again, the key to good luck is often luck.
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