How to Get Luckier

The Myth of Luck

0:00What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Deeply Graphic Design Cast. I'm Nick Longo. Really loved all of the incredible feedback on last week's episode. It was so great to see that we hit something that kind of worked with all of you and loved hearing a lot of your responses.

0:30So thanks again. It's always great to hear from you guys. So please, again, with this one, if anything hits, let me know. And feel free to always like, share, subscribe, do all that fun stuff as we continue to grow here as well. So for today, I want to talk about luck. I used to believe in luck a lot. I mean, luck in the traditional sense. Right place, right time. You just happen to meet the right person. Somebody might give you a break, or your name comes up in a conversation somewhere. An opportunity falls into your lap, and suddenly your career can change. Some people

1:04just seem lucky. You probably know somebody like that. I've got a few people that come to mind. They get invited to speak at the conference. Somebody recommends them for this cool project, and somehow they know everyone. You get introduced to the right person. They usually are right there at the exact right time. Timing is always good. They start something on the side, and six months later, it turns into something that's a whole other thing for them. And you're sitting there and kind of

1:34thinking, how the hell does this person keep getting so lucky? I used to think that way too, a lot. But the longer I've been doing this, and especially when I look backwards at some of the biggest opportunities that I've had in my own career, I've changed my mind about luck. I don't think you can control luck in any way. But I do think that you can create the conditions for it to happen. You can put yourself in tons of more places. You can start more conversations with people

2:11you meet. You can make more things to be visible. You can follow more weird little threads on social media or any inspiration board. You can raise your hand a little bit more, or you can say yes. You can give opportunity more places to find you. And I've been thinking about this phrase a little bit lately. Increase your surface area for luck. It makes so much sense because if you picture luck as something flying around out there, which is a ridiculous visual, but stay with me here. You

2:47want to give that thing the biggest possible target. You can't control where it lands. That's obviously a given. But you can make yourself a much bigger place for that luck to land on. And that's what I want to talk about in this episode today. And I'm not going to talk about networking, uh, the, the typical, like hustle grind, not going to every conference and handing out 400 business cards each time. It's not that this is about creating more opportunities for unexpected things

3:23to truly happen. Because when I look backwards, even at my own career, some of the biggest things that ever happened to me started with really, really small decisions that I might've made. And looking back, that's how I know it happened. So the myth of this lucky person we were talking

The Backstory Behind Opportunities

3:42about, let's start with that person who always seems to get the opportunities that we keep seeing, because I think we've all looked at somebody else's career and you might've thought, man, this person seems to be getting all the breaks. It's just nonstop. And social media makes this 10 times worse. Every time you look at it, we see the announcement. I'm so excited to announce blank. Oh boy. You know, we've seen this a lot. Here we go. Another person getting another

4:13opportunity. They get that speaking gig. Uh, they got maybe some huge new client that sounds super promising. They get promoted. Uh, they're collaborating with somebody really, really cool out there. They're going somewhere. It could be as simple as that. They're doing something, something we're not. And we're seeing the end of the story. Every time that's being placed in the headline, we don't see the 17 little things that happened before that announcement. Maybe they met

4:44someone three years ago somewhere. Maybe all that time they kept in touch with that person. Maybe they helped that person with something first. Maybe it was the other way around. Maybe they went to an event where they met somebody else. Right. And maybe they posted some weird personal project that had absolutely nothing to do with really getting hired or landing an opportunity, but somebody saw it. And that person remembered it. Six months later, their company needed something weird. And guess what?

5:18Suddenly they were looking at that announcement again and thinking, wow, that might be the person lucky bastard. Right. But the actual story might have started three years earlier. That's what fascinates me about this idea of luck. Luck usually has a backstory we never see. And I want you to think about your own career for a second. Think about one really good thing that happened to you professionally. Maybe it's the job that you currently have and fully enjoy. Maybe there's

5:51this kick-ass client you've had for years and it's amazing. A promotion that made a huge shift in your career. A friendship. Right. A simple introduction. Maybe it was this small little speaking opportunity that got you into that. Whatever that thing was. Now I want you to ask yourself this. How did that actually happened? And don't just stop at what could be the obvious answer. Maybe you say, well, Sarah recommended me for this thing. Okay. Well, that's cool. How did

6:24you meet Sarah? Hmm. We met at a design event two years ago. Okay. So that's great. Why were you even at that event? Well, my friend invited me. I didn't even know I was going. So I just said yes. Right. So I almost didn't go. That could have been one of your things there as well. There it is. That's the interesting part. The opportunity didn't begin when Sarah recommended you. It was all those little steps that began when you got off the couch and you went to that thing because you might have not

6:57gone that easy. So you went and guess what? That's the surface area. And once you start looking at your career this way, you start noticing these chains basically everywhere. So putting yourself

Putting Yourself in the Room

7:13in the room. Let's talk a little bit about that. I'll give you one of my own career stories here. One of my biggest breaks ever I had was started with a mountain biking ride. At that time, there was a VP at my company I worked with and I knew a huge opportunity was coming up in his department. It was really huge. It was exactly what I needed. I'd be completely switching gears in the company, different department, but I knew I needed a chance to pitch myself. And I also knew that

7:49this guy mountain biked and I was heavily into it at the time. So now was this calculated? Absolutely. It was. I planned this thing to a T. I'm not going to pretend it happened accidentally and I just wandered into that path, but I knew this was happening. So I had to find a way to get in there. So I put myself there. I found a way and I knew that getting outside of the office and giving me this opportunity to do this was all about that. It couldn't have happened there. I wanted it to work

8:23somewhere else. And guess what? It worked. We rode. We talked. I'll never forget. We're on like a downhill. And I was talking about this opportunity that I heard and I sold myself. I told him I was the person for this. And that was the conversation I had. It wasn't in a conference room. It wasn't in the hallway. No formal interview. No awkward meeting where I would have been nervous or somebody else would have seen me walking in. And of course, I'd be super like afraid that somebody saw that I was

8:53going for it. But guess what? I shot my shot. That conversation helped lead me to this huge opportunity and an incredible promotion for me. Now, was I lucky that the opportunity existed? Sure. It didn't come out of nowhere, right? Was I lucky that he was willing to listen to me? Absolutely. Some people would have just said, we're out on the weekend. Don't talk shop. Could he have said no? Of course, that that's obviously could have happened as well. But here's the important part.

9:26I created the opportunity for the conversation to happen. I increased the surface area. And I think sometimes we're uncomfortable admitting that because it sounds calculated. Yeah, I mean, it totally is. It was calculated for sure. There's nothing wrong with that. There's a huge difference between manipulating somebody and deliberately putting yourself in a position where an opportunity can happen, something that big. What if there's somebody right now in your company who you'd love

9:56to learn from? What if instead of just waiting for some formal mentorship program, you just ask them to go grab a coffee one afternoon? Maybe you're hoping your creative director notices you. Maybe you volunteer, you do something for that project that they're leading. Maybe there's somebody in the industry you've followed for years. What if you actually send an email to them? Surface area. Maybe you want to get into a certain type of job that's a little bit different.

10:28What if you went to where the people doing the work actually hang out? And I'm not saying that just every little coffee meetup is going to become a promotion. Most of them won't. Every email doesn't get answered. Every event doesn't have a client waiting for you that's going to have a lead. That's not the point. You're not trying to manufacture an outcome. You're creating another point of contact between you and this possibility. And the more of these points you create,

10:59the larger that surface area totally becomes. So sometimes luck looks terrifying. That's so true. Here's the other side of it. Sometimes opportunity does show up and then we try to talk ourselves out of it. I had this happen when I was invited on a work trip about 15 years ago and it was the first time going to Asia. I almost canceled it. Not because I didn't want to go. I had been waiting. And every time I heard of anybody getting to go from our company, because that meant, you know,

11:33you were being looked at well beyond just the creative behind the desk. You were a creative director. You were operating a project and they needed you there. It's not because I didn't want to go. But damn, my imposter syndrome kicked in so hard. I remember days before thinking, why am I going on this trip? Am I really supposed to be there? Am I worthy of this? Do I need to? There are people above me who know how to do this. They've been there many times, but I kept thinking they've had a first time, right? Gosh, did somebody overestimate this of what I can contribute?

12:08You all know that voice, right? The one that somehow becomes this world-class attorney the second you get a good opportunity and begins presenting a 12-point case for why you absolutely do not deserve this. And I almost listened to it. Thank God I didn't because like that was the biggest opportunity and the most incredible thing. What a launching pad that was for me in my career at that company. Up until then, I could easily be seen as that designer that just sits behind the

12:39desk and cranks out great packaging or products. I made the work. I did my job, but going to Asia and all that changed my context. Now, I wasn't just designing something. I was there making sure the project actually got made on time and on budget. I was dealing with production, people, decisions, problems. I was operating at a completely different level. And most importantly, other people got to see me operating at that level as well. That change and everything about it was all about the way I felt

13:15like I was being perceived. That changed the way I was perceived. And I think there's a lesson in there that goes well beyond just this being a trip. Because maybe you're being invited into a room right now that you're not completely sure you belong in. Maybe somebody asked you to present, right? Maybe you're asked to lead something that you never have before. Or you're considering applying for a job and you only match seven of the 10 different requirements that seem like no human can do.

13:48Maybe somebody invited you to speak. Maybe somebody wants you to mentor them. And you're thinking, who the hell am I to mentor anybody? I said that the day before my first day teaching. It's true. Maybe somebody asked you to take on a project slightly outside of your comfort zone. And your immediate instinct is to shrink back to the place where you already know you're qualified. But what if that discomfort is actually clue? What if you're uncomfortable because your surface area is expanding?

14:21You're being seen differently. You're entering a complete other different room. You're getting closer to another group of people. And that means you're demonstrating something people haven't seen from you before. That doesn't mean blindly say yes to everything, right? There are absolutely opportunities you should turn down. But I think there's a question worth asking before you say no. Am I turning this down because it's wrong for me or because I'm scared? I might not be ready for it. Those are very

14:53different things. Sometimes the opportunity you've been waiting for doesn't feel like opportunity when it arrives. Sometimes it feels like, oh, fucking crap. They want me to do this. And maybe that's exactly

Greenlight Your Own Ideas

15:08when you need to say yes. So next section is called Greenlight Yourself. I'm a big fan of Matthew McConaughey's book called Greenlights. It came to me after I had fully experienced everything that it talks about. This idea of like your external light, either being green, yellow or red. And when it's red, obviously, a lot of opportunities come your way. You're putting out to the world an instant no, like a predictable no. But the green says yes.

15:41There's another huge shift that happened in my career when I left my agency job and started doing my own business. And looking back, I think the biggest thing that changed wasn't that I suddenly became my own boss. I've been waiting freaking years for that. It was that I got green lights, my green light. It was on. For years, your career is shaped by permission, right? Can I work on this account? Can I pitch this idea to you? Can I get the promotion, right? Can I take on this responsibility? Can I move into this role? Somebody else has to say

16:16yes. And when I went out on my own, I suddenly realized, wait, just wait a minute. I can make this stuff. I can start things. I don't need anyone to approve it. And two of my absolute favorite things in my entire career came out of this realization, joining this podcast and becoming a teacher. Neither one was part of some brilliant 20-year career strategy that I had put on some board years ago. I didn't leave my agency job with a giant diagram on the wall that said, step one, start a

16:53business. Step two, let's get into a podcast. And step three, become a professor. This was not in my cards in any way. That would have been completely impressive, but it didn't happen that way. I simply had more freedom to follow things that completely interested me. And by starting those things, I created entirely new surfaces where opportunity came like an avalanche. Think about this podcast alone. How many conversations we've had because of this thing that exists? How many people

17:25have I got to meet over these years? The incredible friendships that I have because of this? How many introductions have been made? I've just made two today from ex-guests that came on board and were inviting me to talk to some other people. You might want to talk to this guy. He'd be great on the podcast. How many opportunities came from somebody hearing an episode? Countless. How many opportunities came from interviewing someone who introduced me to somebody else? Again, just happened to me like two times today. Kind of crazy. Now, none of this could have happened before the podcast existed or

18:00before I became a part of it. So sometimes increasing your surface area isn't about going somewhere. Sometimes it's about making something, right? What if you started the thing that you've been talking about starting? Maybe it's not a podcast. Please, the world doesn't need another design podcast. But maybe it's a newsletter. Maybe it's this personal project you've been trying to do. Maybe it's a little design meetup in your city. Go for it, right? Poster series, workshop. Maybe you just start interviewing people you admire. Don't make it a podcast. Maybe you create a ridiculous packaging

18:34design concept every Friday and post it. Maybe you document something that you're learning. Maybe you write about corner of design that nobody else seems to be talking about. And here's the important part. It doesn't need a business plan yet. It doesn't need to become your side hustle. It doesn't need monetization or strategy right off the bat. It doesn't need to become this pillar that you're going to rely on, right? It can simply exist because you're just freaking curious, curious enough to make

19:05it happen. Because the moment something exists in the world with your name attached to it, you've created another place where somebody can discover you. Another conversation can start. Another person can connect with you. Another weird little thread can happen. You've increased the surface area and it's going to be amazing. So showing up doesn't mean being everywhere. Now this is where I want to be careful because I can already hear somebody listening to this thinking great. So I have to top of my job,

19:39maintain my portfolio, keep up with all the freaking industry standards and everything else, have a personal life. Nick wants me to start something, fly to conferences and go mountain biking with my boss. Not saying that. Although, great examples. Absolutely not. It's not what the side hustle is about with this little area. Increasing your surface area doesn't mean maximizing activity. It means being intentional about creating these opportunities for beautiful connections. Those are different things. Maybe

20:13you're introverted. Maybe networking events are your personal version of hell. You walk into a room where everybody has a name tag and immediately you start calculating how long you have to stay before leaving becomes a socially acceptable thing. That's fine. Your surface area might look totally different from everybody else. Maybe it's one coffee, one thoughtful email, one online community where you actually participate instead of just looking around. And maybe you just share something you've

20:43been learning. You'll be so surprised at what people would love to hear about that. Maybe you reconnect with somebody you haven't talked to in three to four years. Maybe you invite three designers you like to dinner in your area. That's surface area. Maybe you have kids. Maybe you can't fly around the country going to conferences. That's a real thing. What if you attend one local event? What if you created the gathering? What if instead of just trying to meet 50 people, you intentionally meet two? Surface area

21:14doesn't have to mean volume. It means exposure to possibilities. And lately, I've had the opportunity to travel to a ton of events all around the country. And one of my favorite parts has been finally meeting people I've admired or known online for years. And here's what I realized with all that. Very rarely do I walk into those situations knowing exactly what the outcome of these things will be. I'm not thinking I'm going to meet this person who will introduce me to another person who will give me

21:47an opportunity. That would be unfair. That's not how these relationships in our industry really work. I'm just showing up. I want to talk. I want to listen. I love meeting new people. And I'm learning what they're doing. I'm telling them what I'm working on. We talk about things that are completely outside of graphic design. Sometimes nothing happens. And that's okay. I've had a few of those. Because human connection doesn't need that ROI report. But sometimes something does happen.

22:21A conversation can continue. You gave them a business card or you connected on Instagram. Maybe you sent an email three months later. They remember something you said. They introduce you to somebody else. And you invite them onto something. They invite you to a great event. And the thread keeps going. You can't predict those little chains. You can only start more of them. Like I said, surface area. Follow the threat. I think this might be one of the biggest differences between people who

22:53seem lucky and people who feel like nothing ever happens to them. Some people follow the threat. Something interesting happens and then they lean towards it, right? They meet someone interesting. They follow up. Someone mentions a place. They go. Someone recommends a book. They read it. Somebody says, you should meet my friend. They actually meet the friend. They get an idea. They make a small version of it, right? There's momentum. Not because they know where it's going. Because they want to see

23:26where it goes. Designers can be really bad at this because we like outcomes. We like briefs. We make deliverables. And we like knowing what we're making. And career opportunities rarely work that neatly to be looked at the same way. Sometimes you have to follow something without knowing what it's going to deliver. Maybe there's somebody that you've been meaning to email. Send it. Maybe somebody says, we should go grab coffee sometimes. And they said it six months ago. Call their bluff. Grab that coffee.

24:03Maybe there's an event that you've looked at three times and thought, I don't know anybody there. What if that's precisely why you should go? Maybe there's a side project that's been sitting on a desktop folder because you can't figure out what it's for. I've got a bunch of those. What if it doesn't need to be for anything yet? Maybe you've just become fascinated with something completely outside of graphic design. Follow it. Because here's something I've learned over and over again. You rarely know which thread is going to matter. That's why you follow a few of them.

Becoming a Connector

24:38Becoming a connector. There's one more way to increase your surface area that I think people underestimate. Create luck for other people. Introduce people. Seriously. Like if you know two people who should know each other, connect them. I'm talking to you, Nick and Ray. You know what I'm talking about. Two buddies I introduced a while back. Super passionate about design. They lived in the same area. They had the same kind of philosophies and really cool kind of outlook on design. Link those two up and now they're best buds. If somebody's looking for a photographer

25:13and you know a great photographer, make the introduction. If you see an opportunity that's perfect for somebody, send it to them. If somebody helped you, remember them. If you meet someone doing something interesting, tell people about it. That's a quick just like share on any social media thing, right? Don't hoard relationships and don't do it because you're keeping score. That's gross. Do it because being useful creates those connections. Surface area. Some of the most

25:46connected people I know aren't the loudest people in the room. They're the people consistently saying, you know who you should talk to? I love that. And there's something else that happens when you become that person. You become part of more conversations. Your network isn't just a list of people you know. It becomes a web of people who know each other partially because of you. That's surface area beyond belief. Maybe you can't help somebody with what they need, but what if you know

26:19someone that really can? Make that introduction. You just created two opportunities without asking for anything. And someday somebody might do the same for you. Maybe that's luck. Maybe that's just being a good human. Either way, I'll take it. So your luck audit. All right, here's what I want you to do

Your Career Luck Audit

26:39after this episode. You're going to do a little luck audit is what I'm calling it. Think about three of the best opportunities you've had in your career. They don't have to be enormous. Maybe it's just your current job, a great client, a friendship, a project. Maybe it's that last promotion you had or really cool introduction, a speaking opportunity. Something you're grateful happened. Write down each one of them. Then trace it backwards. How did it happen? And then what caused that? And then what caused that?

27:15And keep going. You're basically building the world's least impressive conspiracy board. Eventually, I bet you'll reach some tiny little decision. I went. I asked. I posted. I introduced myself. I made something. Called that person back. Followed up. Said yes. I didn't cancel the trip. I took the meeting. I sent the email. I started the thing. And when you find those moments, pay attention. Because that's how your surface area tends to grow. Maybe your career has grown through the relationships.

27:52Great. Invest in more relationships. Maybe opportunities tend to come from the things that you make on your own. Make more things. Maybe every time something seems to happen for you, you got out of your normal environment. Go somewhere. Maybe your best opportunities came because somebody else recommended you. Ask yourself why they felt confident recommending you. There's information in all of this. You're not trying to reverse engineer some magic formula. You're learning the conditions where good things seem to

28:26happen for you. Then create more of those conditions. So I've changed my mind really about luck. I used to think luck was this thing completely outside your control. It happened to you or it didn't. Some people got their breaks. Some people didn't. And to some extent, that's obviously true. Life is messy. I get it. Timing matters. Circumstances obviously matter. Other people make decisions we can't control. You cannot guarantee yourself a promotion. You can't force someone to make that hire of you. And you

29:01can't make somebody recommend you. You can't schedule a lucky break for Thursday at 2.30. But you can't give those things more opportunity to happen. You can put yourself in the room. You can say yes before you feel completely ready. And you can green light your own ideas. You can make something. You can reach out. You can follow that thread. You can introduce two people. You can go somewhere new. You can tell people what you're interested in. And you can create another point of contact between

29:34yourself and all these incredible possibilities. And none of those things guarantee an outcome. That's important. We're not trying to control luck. We're increasing the surface area. Because think about two designers. Both talented. Both great people. Both doing strong work. One keeps their head down. Does the work. Goes home. And waits for somebody to notice. The other one does the same great work. But every once in a while, they go somewhere. They share something. They start something. They ask that question. They meet a new person. They hit send on that email. They raise

30:11their hand. And they say yes. They help somebody else. One year, maybe there isn't much different, right? Five years. Those two careers could look completely different. Not because one person was magically luckier. Because one of them gave luck a hell of a lot more places to land. So here's a question I want to leave you guys with. What could you do this week to increase your surface area by just 10%, right? Not change your life. Not launch a podcast. Not go on a bike ride. Not attend six

30:45different conferences. 10%. Maybe you finally send an email. Maybe you go to that thing. Maybe you just ask someone for that coffee meeting. Maybe you share what you're working on. That fun little side project. Maybe you say yes to the opportunity that's making you a little uncomfortable. Those are the best. And maybe finally, green light the thing you've been waiting for somebody else to approve. One small move is all I'm asking. Because you have absolutely no idea what that one move could bump in six months from now. You can't control where luck lands, guys. But you can give it a much

31:21bigger target. Make yourself more lucky. We'll talk to you next time. Take care.

31:29If this conversation helped you think a little longer term about your creative career, hit like and subscribe. It helps more than you think. And if you know a creative who's trying to figure out their next move, share this with you. That's how we get this community to grow. Thanks.