The SpoonFed Ideas Newsletter

Every Sunday, I promise to give you three things.

• One idea.
• One action.
• One update.

All to supercharge your life and push you to get what you want out of the short time you have here.

the idea

We all know the formula.

Out of the three variables in this formula, you can only control one of them because

• one, you’re born with whatever talent you have
• two, luck is just this x-factor you can’t control

and so the solution is to do the only thing you can - hustle as fucking hard as possible.

Fortunately, like most things in life, it’s not always so black and white.

The truth is actually much more interesting.

Luck is not random nor is it actually out of your control. You can create more luck. This mindset has personally changed my life in more ways than I even know.

Take dating for example. Who’s going to get luckier?

• Bob who hides in his mom’s basement playing space pinball or
• Eugene, who goes out every Friday night, befriends all the bartenders, and learns a bunch of salsa moves?

We all intuitively know the answer.

According to Tina Seelig, Stanford professor who studies entrepreneurs and luck: “Luck is rarely a lightning strike, isolated and dramatic. It’s much more like the wind, blowing constantly. Sometimes it’s calm, and sometimes it blows in gusts. And sometimes it comes from directions that you didn’t even imagine.”

Sure you can’t predict the wind, but you for sure know it’s coming. Open your sail and you’ll catch something. This is the concept of luck surface area.

the action

Think about how this applies to your life. Whatever you are hoping to happen, are you more of a Bob or a Eugene? Realize that while luck can be random, your ability to make the most out of it is going to vary widely. But that’s all on you - something you can definitely control.

Are you letting your sail down regularly?

Ask yourself, how can I maximize my luck surface area so that when lucky events do strike, I’m able to capitalize on them fully?

the update

I’ve given myself a new challenge recently. 1000 pushups in a single day!!

This is a lot harder than I thought actually. I thought to myself, this should be another one of those mind over matter sort of things. I’m good at those... kind of like a plank where as long as the mind fails a lot sooner than the body, I can probably power through.

Interestingly, 1000 pushups is the exact opposite. The body clearly fails before the mind does. Because in my mind, I feel as if I can still keep going. It feels easy.

I’m telling my body: “yo what’s wrong with you? This is nothing. You’re literally just bending and straightening the elbows a bunch of times. C’mon dude.”

But the body is like" “fuck you man, keep on pushing and you’re for sure going to tear something you don’t even want to know about.”

And so, meekly, I shut up.

I realize my body is right… this sort of soreness doesn’t feel like the good kind. And so, I am humbly reminded of the importance of rest and patience.

(But I will get there…)

PS. By the way, there is a secret formula for luck. Instead of writing it here, I’ve decided to expand this into a more substantial substack post because I have a bit more to say on this topic. Give it some patience and you’ll find it posted soon.

Click here for more

Other links you may have interest in:

​substack for my long-form articles

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​store if you want some rad gear

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