022 | Serendipity is better than luck.
Hey friends,
Paradoxically, it’s not about who you know but who knows you. Let me explain.
The best opportunities are the ones you never expected.
I often get asked how I’m able to get involved in so many different avenues of work from full-on internships whilst at medical school to the various projects I’ve been able to start (freelance design projects, startups, writing, creating, etc).
It all comes down to one thing — serendipity.
Who’s this serendipity dude?
Serendipity by definition:
The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
You either get lucky (which rarely happens) or increase your chance for lucky events occurring. One way to do this is by saying ‘yes’ to as many opportunities that come your way, another is to create content. When you create online (blogs, podcasts, videos, etc.) regularly, you will connect with unexpected individuals. Doors will open for you that you didn’t even know existed.
You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. — Steve Jobs.
Why do I need a serendipity vehicle?
A serendipity vehicle is essentially a means to an end. The end, however, is not fixed and is constantly moving — you always want to one better yourself.
Therefore, the key to accessing bigger and better opportunities is to build a vehicle, metaphorically speaking.
A vehicle that will take you places you felt were too far out of reach otherwise.
My vehicle is this very newsletter and my YouTube channel. Both are super tiny vehicles at this stage but have led me to connections and opportunities that otherwise felt inaccessible.
By having a vehicle, you also build on two other key components to accelerating the occurrence of serendipitous events — trust and mutual respect.
When you ship and put yourself in the public domain, your work can speak volumes for your character, personal interests, and core values. This allows like-minded people to find you with ease or create a personal brand that would otherwise be difficult to convey in a résumé or CV.
How do I maintain a serendipity vehicle?
The key to maintaining your serendipity vehicle is to fuel it.
Just like a car, if you drive endlessly on one full tank you will eventually run out. You need to keep refuelling regularly if you are to travel endlessly forwards.
This means that you need to be consistent in saying ‘yes’ to one opportunity after another and remain consistent in posting content regularly.
For example, when I first started writing my newsletter, my reach was limited to my small circle of friends. But as I remained consistent, it grew. My reach grew exponentially until eventually I was being recognised by some super successful individuals who I was then able to connect, collaborate, and consult with as a result.
By maximizing serendipity, you’ll accelerate your progress. — David Perrell
Summary
In short, serendipity is the new way of saying you got lucky. However, unlike luck, serendipitous events can be manufactured through your efforts to remain open to new opportunities and add value to others.
With that, if you would like to chat with me about almost anything, reply to this email or find me online. I’ll be happy to connect + share my two cents!
This Week’s Quote 🎯
People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy. ― Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
This Week’s Recommendation 🚀
Stanford Business School Q&A 💬 - Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
I watched this about a year ago and it still stands out to me a lot. Satya’s story is pretty impressive and he shares several pearls of wisdom in this interview. I first found out about the book Mindset (a favourite of mine) in this interview. He speaks about finding a purpose, building your career, relationships, and more.
This Week’s Content 🏄🏾♂️
Here’s a straight to the point video on two realisations I’ve made about the self-improvement hype and two action points to make your self-improvement journey more worthwhile. ☕️
That’s all for this week - be safe, be happy!
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