The 4 Types of Luck That Shape Our Lives

In 1978, neurologist Dr. James Austin published a fascinating book called “Chase, Chance, & Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty”. In it, he proposed that there are 4 distinct types of luck that can impact our lives:

1. Blind Luck
2. Luck from Motion
3. Luck from Awareness
4. Luck from Uniqueness

Understanding these different types of luck is like having a cheat code to life. Let’s break them down one by one.

Type 1: Blind Luck

Blind luck is completely random and out of our control. As Austin puts it, “Chance I is completely impersonal; you can’t influence it.”

Examples of blind luck:

• Where you are born
• Who your family is
• Winning the lottery
• Finding $20 on the ground

We can’t do anything to attract this type of luck. It comes and goes as it pleases.

When blind luck strikes, be grateful. But don’t spend your life waiting around for it, because the odds are infinitesimally small.

Type 2: Luck from Motion

Yes, we can’t control blind luck, but we can take actions that attract the second type of luck — luck from motion.

As Austin explains, “Chance II favours those who have a persistent curiosity about many things coupled with an energetic quest for new information and ideas.”

When you take more actions, engage with more people, and create more projects — you increase the number of “collisions” in your life. The more collisions, the higher the likelihood that some of those collisions will be lucky breaks.

Examples of motion-driven luck:

• A startup founder makes 100 sales calls per week and lands a game-changing customer on call #97
• A writer publishes 10 articles per month, and the 7th article goes viral
• An investor makes 30 angel investments per year, and the 23rd one returns 100x
• Luck came to each of them only after relentless motion.

Type 3: Luck from Awareness

Blind luck comes randomly, but the third type of luck favours those with unique observational abilities.

As Austin puts it, this type of luck “favours those who have a sufficient background of sound knowledge plus special abilities in observing, remembering, recalling, and quickly forming significant new associations.”

People with deep expertise in a field can often spot patterns and opportunities that others miss. Their depth of awareness positions them to capitalize on luck.

Examples:

• A venture capitalist spots a subtle shift in an industry before anyone else
• A real estate investor recognizes an up-and-coming neighbourhood A technologist identifies the next big platform years before it takes off
• Cultivating awareness takes years of focus in a specific domain — but doing so allows you to spot luck that others miss.

Type 4: Luck from Uniqueness

The first three types of luck come from random chance, motion, and awareness.

The fourth type is different — your unique interests, quirks and attributes themselves attract luck.

As Austin says, “Type 4 favours those with distinctive, if not eccentric hobbies, personal lifestyles, and motor behaviours.”

We all have certain weird little niches we geek out on. And it just so happens that those unique interests can present uncommon luck.

Examples:

• A history buff’s obsession with antique toy soldiers leads him to discover and sell a rare collectable
• An athlete’s home rock climbing wall gets the attention of a professional team looking for talent A hobbyist coder creates an unusual video game that goes viral online

We’re often told to tone down our quirks to fit in. But sometimes, it’s our weird little micro-interests that attract the most opportunity.

The key is diving deeper into those niches over time. That’s how we develop “luck from uniqueness”.

Final Thoughts

Understanding Austin’s 4 types of luck gives us a framework for attracting luck more deliberately.

We can’t control blind luck, but we can create motion, cultivate awareness, and embrace our uniqueness to attract the other types.

As Austin puts it: “The more diversity there is among these elements the more unique is the resulting creative product.”

In other words, combine all 4 types of luck, and you maximize your chances of success.

So dream big, take action, geek out on what you love, and pay attention. That’s how you play the odds.

Now go make your own luck!

© Buzzedison

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