You know when things work out even better than you hoped, and seemed to magically materialize from nothing? How things came together by no doing of your own and just fall into your lap in the best of ways? That’s "dumb luck", but I think the term itself discredits what is actually happening.

First to call something 'dumb' is simply incorrect. With the infinite intelligence that exists around us it’s naive to call anything related to your environment 'dumb'. Just because you can’t see or measure what’s happening does not mean that it doesn’t exist. There is more design and intention behind every element of your life than you realize and it’s important to respect that.

Then the word luck. I think a better word to use is "coincidence". I don't mean the traditional definition of coincidence that involves randomness, but instead the root etymological meaning. To co-incide means for things to happen together. There doesn’t need to be an element of luck or chance in what things coincide. What often happens is that we can’t perceive the synchronicity in the event, and therefore we rationalize it as a random occurrence. Again, this isn’t respecting the nature of what is actually happening in a more divine way.

In either case, if you choose to see dumb luck as a random fluke or pre-destined serendipity, it’s important to maximize the opportunity in front of you. Those who get the farthest in life do the most with the advantages they have access to. So if you want to find ways to advance your career, network, or skills, you’re going to need to take advantage of your strokes of good fortune so that they produce real outcomes.

It's important to take action and be the doer that creates your world.  While I still do strongly advocate for that, there’s more to the equation than you might first think. Obviously everything you do is an action-step in your life, but also everything you don’t do is an action-step as well. More briefly put, inaction is also an action.

When we think about taking action we think about the new and novel activities or behaviors we introduce to our lives. They leave an impression because they are being done consciously within our awareness, and therefore are very top of mind. But the far majority of our actions and behaviors are done at an unconscious level. They’re still actions, we just aren’t aware of them and therefore we don’t label them as such. Your inaction on one thing does not lead to nothing... It leads to you doing something else that you’ve been habituated to doing. That is still action. Instead of beginning a new workout routine, you resort to the inaction of scrolling through social media. Instead of speaking up about a new idea at work, you recoil into a sequence of self-defeating thoughts about your creativity.

Your behavior is the language of your identity, and what we call “inaction” is actually just a proxy for taking action on the things that are already comfortable, habitual, and sub-conscious. By not taking the desired action, we revert to doing the same things we’ve always done and strengthen the sub-conscious belief we have about that thing.  It makes overwriting that your identity (which is done by taking a new action) that much more difficult the next time.  

Every choice you make is a tradeoff. You can do new things that generate new results in your life. If you don’t you’ll be relegated to taking the same old actions that lead to the same old outcomes. The choice is yours but recognize that even inaction is actually an action.

There are random moments that may come up in your day where you do something “small” to help someone out. At a grocery store they drop their basket, and you help them pick up their groceries. Or you give a subtle compliment to a stranger and then walk away. While these things don’t take much effort on your end, the impact is truly infinite. Which means they’re not actually that small of acts of kindness, even though they feel that way.

Something I believe to be true about the world is that it has a disproportionate nature to it. The amount of effort, difficulty, or intention you put into something creates an outcome that is disproportionately large in return. A perfect example is introducing two people. You take the 5 minutes to draft up an email and it could lead to mentorship, collaboration, or a new business. The possibilities are endless and far greater than the amount of effort you put in.

Your kindness is the same. Your smallest contribution creates a permanent shift in the universe that grows and continues to interact with people, creating change on a larger magnitude than you can conceive. The world is not linear, it is exponential, and if you want the world to be a kinder place then you just figured out your solution. Add more kindness and let it compound!

There is no small act of kindness, truly, even though it might feel small to you in the moment. I hope this encourages you to invest your energy and attention into more acts of kindness, knowing that the universe’s natural process will amplify it and allow it to touch those who need it.

There are an infinite amount of ways our lives can go. Sometimes we’re pulled into things we have no business doing and we grow comfortable in that thing. It could be a job, a relationship, or a tension that you just grow accustomed to. Other times you’re called into a greater purpose, a destiny or role that only you can fulfill and your entire body is screaming to pursue it. But it’s scary, uncertain, and unknown. There is something larger in store for all of us that calls us to take action, but you don’t have to do it alone. The Universe or God or source, or whatever you choose to believe is guiding you the entire time.

But it can only do so much, and it’s a two way street. As much as it might be telling you what to do, you need to be willing to listen. And if you don’t listen then it’s going to need to try harder to get your attention. That brings me to today’s thought - A poke, a slap, a ton of bricks. The universe escalates how it communicates to you, making it more forceful and obvious until you get the hint.

It starts off with a poke. It lets you know that the possibility is there, and lines up other little coincidences or synchronicities for you to start putting the pieces together. It’s subtle but if you’re really listening, you’ll hear it. Then if that doesn’t work, it’ll slap you. It will do something that jolts you and really brings your attention to the path. It’ll shake you around but in a non-harmful way, demanding that you acknowledge it in some capacity. Then if that doesn’t work, it resorts to a ton of bricks. It will do something so undeniable and clear that you need to change. It uses trauma, emergency, or deep emotions to give you no alternative and forces you do what’s best for you.

Well just over a week ago, I got slapped around a bit. The universe gave me a much stronger sign than I had been receiving before that told me clearly how I’m playing in fear. I’m staying comfortable and although I’m projecting big I’m playing small. And I took the sign. I’m leaving my full-time job, doubling down on myself, and stepping into that uncertainty, doubt, and fear. I’m trusting what feels right for me and my path. And it might be coming at you too. It might be a poke, it could be a slap, and eventually it could turn into a ton of bricks. Look out for those signs, and take action as you think is necessary.

Cruise control is a setting in a car where it maintains the same speed, it’s often used on a freeway or highway and ultimately makes driving easier because it gives you one less thing to think about. Similarly we have certain decisions, behaviors, and patterns in our lives that put us in our own personal cruise control, opening up attention to focus on other things. That could be great in certain situations, and bad in others. How do you know which is which?

Cruise control is also known as "autopilot", and psychologically what that means is you’re engaging in behaviors with little effort. More technically, it means that your behavior is being driven by your subconscious. When you put in the work to train your subconscious and your habits to perform a certain task, and you know it’s beneficial for you, then cruise control is a great thing because you can do more of what you want to do without having to put in the effort. This is where creating a plan to build systems around a positive habit can be scalable and effective for you in the long term.

On the other hand, cruise control can be a bad thing. In areas where you want things to be dynamic, where you’re actively pushing for improvement, cruise control can be limiting. The first step to behavior change in any capacity is awareness, and by the nature of it cruise control operates without your awareness. Once you gain an awareness of the habit you can determine how it is currently serving you, and create a plan to help it best serve you.

The summary here: There’s a lot of opportunity to improve your life by recognizing the subconscious “cruise control” habits you have. Design more of the good and become aware of more of the bad so you can do something different, if needed.

I was listening to a rare podcast interview with Darren Hardy and he said something that was really humbling. As the author of "The Compound Effect" and one of the most influential minds in the self development space, Hardy said that he doesn’t think he has ever had an original idea. Hardy went on to explain that he is constantly learning, processing, and integrating the perspectives of other people to formulate his own.

The way I see it, if Darren Hardy still draws inspiration from those who come before him and serve alongside him, then we certainly have a lot to learn. The beautiful part is that this information is available at our fingertips. There was a day where you had to go to a library to checkout a book and learn, or travel to a speaking event to hear your role model talk. We can access everything we need instantaneously which accelerates our ability to learn and grow exponentially.

Your next great idea, or the solution you’ve been looking for, is already out there and has probably been shared by someone who came before you. Instead of retreating and feeling disempowered by that, you can feel motivated and inspired to pursue that information. What will always be entirely unique is your context. No one will ever interpret information exactly the same as you because your life experience is solely yours. So the idea might not be original, but the understanding always is, which  allows you to contribute something novel.

But in order to gain that key insight, you need to be a sponge. You need to soak in the wisdom of others and let it influence you. And if the books, podcasts, videos, and worksheets aren’t enough, reach out to that person directly! You’ll be shocked to learn how accessible some people are when you approach them with a genuine curiosity about their work.

As a contrarian thinker, Matthew Zachary presented an interesting philosophy about introducing change to the marketplace. In describing this thought he mentions a book that has a very logical title for the topic - "Disruption".

It takes an extra step of empathy to do, but being able to deliver on the wants and needs of others before they voice them to you is a game changing skill to develop.  It's relevant because it also applies to yourself and your own development. If you continue meeting your own needs as they exist at face-value, you’re going to be missing an opportunity to dig deeper and get to the root of what would be most valuable to you.

Unfortunately we live in a culture where many people view asking for help as a weakness. If you need help that means you’re not capable of it yourself, which reflects negatively on who you are. But that doesn’t make sense. Are you expected to be the absolute best at everything? We know that can’t possibly true, and asking for help is actually a strength because it allows you to focus on what you’re good at and get support where you need it. Ask anyone who’s done well for themselves and they’d tell you the same. So the first piece to this - You need to let others help you.

And all you need is a little help. It’s not like you’re completely reliant on other people to manage your own well-being. In getting help you’re not undervaluing your own ability to get things done, you’re supplementing it by tapping into the skills and perspectives of others. When you ask for help, you’ll find that people are happy to give it to you. It makes others feel good when they can help because it reminds them of their own capabilities, so you’re giving them a little gift in opening them up to your world and how they can be supportive. The world is only give and take if you choose to see it that way. I prefer to see it as give and give, because then value can be transferred and received.

So let’s tie it all together - "I get by" (access the things you need, when you need them) "with a little help" (it actually doesn’t pull people that far out of their way) "from my friends" (who are all around us people we don’t even know that intimately). You’re not the only person on this planet for a reason, we all need some help sometimes, we’re all capable of offering help as well.