How can we increase the odds of finding luck? By being a person who works in public. By doing work and being public about it, you build a reputation for yourself. You build a track record. You build a public body of work that speaks on your behalf better than any resume ever could.How can we increase the odds of finding luck? By being a person who works in public. By doing work and being public about it, you build a reputation for yourself. You build a track record. You build a public body of work that speaks on your behalf better than any resume ever could. The goal is not to become famous, the goal is to increase the chances of luck finding us. For me, one of the most helpful ways to think about this has always been the concept of the “Luck Surface Area,” described in an old post by Jason Roberts.
“The amount of serendipity that will occur in your life, your Luck Surface Area, is directly proportional to the degree to which you do something you’re passionate about combined with the total number of people to whom this is effectively communicated.”
This is a fascinating insight on “increasing the luck-surface-area”. Problem is that very few people read blogs (or even less, discover it). Social media dominates the discourse. However, that shouldn’t dissuade you from having one of your own! Building up communities is a tough ask. Keeping them hooked (and motivated) is harder. This explains the constant barrage of self-congratulatory posts or “reaching out to influencers” to keep audiences hooked. The attention spans now measure microseconds, and it is tough to ask to keep attention engaged for prolonged spells. I witness a small push back from my colleagues who have migrated to physical books, and a rediscovering the joys of reading. I have steadfastly believed that creating content instead offers the best returns. A blog is a perfect vehicle/medium to achieve those goals.
The author further writes:
You can “publish” anywhere. For me that’s mostly Twitter because that’s where most of my peers hang out. It doesn’t have to be Twitter for you. It could be GitHub, a newsletter, a podcast, forums, your blog, YouTube, or something completely different that’s not even on my radar. Anywhere that’s not your hard drive counts!
My suggestion is to avoid the social media entirely, as it is an algorithmically guided discourse (negativity bias). Discoverability is a problem. You can possibly “amplify” your reach through emails/newsletters/Telegram channels or have dedicated groups – but it is even more difficult to monetise your “passion”.
I’d suggest, use the medium to get a grip on issues and channelise your ideas that helps you gain better insights and perspectives.
RadOncNotes 