Luck is what you control, not what happens to you, and daily choices compound into it.
Separate fortune from luckFortune is what happens to you; luck is how you respond, and that is what you control.
Be a sailboat, not a weather vaneBuild the boat with values and risk awareness, recruit a crew through generosity, then hoist the sail toward a goal.
Stir the soup with one small actionApply for the job, introduce yourself in line, ask for a five-minute favor and send a thank-you note; deposits compound over time.
Executive SummaryAI
Dr. Tina Selig, a Stanford neuroscience PhD and author of 18 books, defines luck as success or failure apparently caused by chance and separates fortune, the things that happen to you, from luck, which you control.
Mel Robbins recounts meeting Christopher Robbins at a United Way benefit in 1994 by ordering a bourbon, and Tina describes how a conversation with a publisher on an airplane led, years later, to the publication of What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20.
Using a painting, Tina contrasts people who shut the shutters, weather vanes who only notice, hot air balloons carried by the wind, windmills that harvest local luck, and sailboats that steer toward a goal, and says catching the winds requires building the boat, recruiting a crew and hoisting the sail.
Building the boat means knowing your core values, illustrated by Tina being cornered in a Chicago elevator and accused of being a spy after her boss sent her to a competitor's conference as Dr. Selig from Stanford, and mapping yourself on a six-point riskometer covering physical, emotional, social, financial, intellectual and political risk.
Tina's $5 challenge with 14 Stanford teams produced $200 from pumping bike tires and $650 from selling a presentation slot, Oliver became her first research assistant after asking for a five-minute favor and sending a thank-you note, and she closes by calling luck a long game like investing, urging listeners to stir the soup this week.
Key Quote
“Fortune is the things that happen to you.”
— Tina Selig
Key Quote
“Opportunities are like the wind, but you need a sail to catch it.”