The myth of meritocracy runs deep, especially in Western culture. We’re told that success is earned through grit, talent, and perseverance.This touches the paradox at the heart of the American Dream — the myth of pure meritocracy vs. the messy reality of randomness, timing, and serendipity. It is sometimes called “luck.”The quiet dirty secret is that while we can’t control luck, we can increase our surface area for it.7 ways to increase your “luck” Behind every great career or business story lies a hidden character: Luck.What most people miss is that luck isn’t purely random. It has patterns and you can learn to invite more of it into your life.Here’s how to tilt the odds in your favor:1. Get exceptionally good at somethingLuck loves expertise. People with rare and valuable skills attract opportunities, collaborators, and surprises. If you want more “lucky breaks,” become world-class in a niche.But sometimes you don’t need to be good at something at the start but you get great as you create and what you do by action. For me it arose out of three things. Reading, writing and publishing about something I was fascinated about. Over the years I became ok, then I became good and then excellence followed. So I showed up and acted driven by inner motivation then the world showed up and then I got luckier. 2. Increase surface area for serendipityLuck often shows up disguised as a conversation, connection, or new idea. Put yourself in environments (online and offline) where randomness can reach you.Attending business networking events that promote connection over a lunch and a glass of wine and sharing ideas and stories instead of just self-promoting and pushing a business card under someone’s nose. Becoming visible online gives you the surface area of the world. Social media has democratized visibility and connection. But you do need to step into the light. 3. Create and publish consistentlyEvery piece of content is a hook in the water. Write, record, build, and share — not because it’s perfect, but because it increases your visibility. Someone unexpected might be watching.Everyone can now publish. It can be as simple as publishing on LinkedIn, Youtube and Instagram. 4. Be visible and valuableIt’s not just about being good — it’s about being seen. A reputation built on value (especially publicly) pulls in opportunities organically.Visibility needs more than just publishing but also “growing your distribution”. This includes followers on social media platforms and online business networks such as LinkedIn. Then it comes down to creating content that matters and is valuable and makes a difference in people’s lives5. Grow your network (Connections matter)Your relationships are luck multipliers. The more people know what you do and trust your integrity, the more likely they’ll refer or connect you when luck knocks.The PayPal Mafia—an elite group of ex-PayPal founders and early employees—reshaped the tech world through a powerful web of talent, trust, and timing. After PayPal’s sale to eBay in 2002, members like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, and Max Levchin used their shared history to launch or fund Tesla, SpaceX, LinkedIn, Palantir, YouTube, and more. Their informal alumni network became a venture-fueled force, rapidly accelerating innovation across Silicon Valley. Today, the combined net worth of this group exceeds $500 billion. Their biggest asset wasn’t just capital—it was connection. Luck compounded because they kept betting on (and building with) each other.6. Keep rolling the dice Don’t bet on one project. Serial builders — people who launch, iterate, and explore — naturally hit jackpots because they try more.Here are three powerful examples of people who got lucky—but only after relentless persistence through rejection and failure:J.K. Rowling: Rejected 12 timesBefore Harry Potter became a global phenomenon, Rowling was a broke single mother on welfare. Her manuscript was rejected by 12 publishers. One editor only took a chance because his 8-year-old daughter loved the story. That “lucky break” turned into a $1+ billion brand. Rowling’s persistence gave luck the chance to find her.Howard Schultz (Starbucks): Turned down 217 timesWhen Schultz tried to raise money to expand Starbucks into an Italian-style espresso bar chain, he was rejected by 217 investors. Eventually, someone said yes. Starbucks is now worth over $100 billion. His luck showed up because he didn’t quit.Stephen King – 30 rejections for CarrieKing’s first novel Carrie was rejected by over 30 publishers. Discouraged, he threw it in the trash—his wife pulled it out and told him to try again. That book launched a legendary career. Luck knocked after persistence refused to shut the door.In all three cases, luck wasn’t magic—it was motion, grit, and timing finally aligning.7. Stick around & play the long gameTime is the compound interest of luck. Many people give up before their breakthrough moment. Stay in the game long enough, and randomness starts to work for you.For over two decades, Jensen Huang and Nvidia were best known for gaming GPUs—powerful but niche. Many doubted their strategy of obsessively refining graphics hardware. But Huang had a long-term vision: that GPUs could one day power massive computing tasks beyond games. That moment came with the AI revolution. When deep learning surged, Nvidia’s chips were perfectly suited for training neural networks. Suddenly, the company that once sold to gamers became the backbone of AI. Huang didn’t pivot into AI luck—he waited for the world to catch up.After 30+ years, Nvidia became a trillion-dollar company. The long game matters and sometimes just keeping in the game is the success game.A quick mental model: The 4 types of luckLuck can be totally random but the chances of that happening are miniscule and there are some things that are in your control and can “earn.”Blind luck – Random chance (e.g., winning the lottery)Luck from motion – Being active and bumping into opportunitiesLuck from skill – Your expertise attracts relevant chancesLuck from unique insight – You see things others miss because of your experienceThe good news? 3 out of 4 are within your control.Final thoughtsThe popular belief of success being pure meritocracy often meets the messy reality of randomness, timing, and serendipity, sometimes called “Luck.”You can’t schedule luck. But you can be ready for it. And with the right mindset and actions, luck won’t just find you, it’ll start relying on you.The post The Dirty Truth About Success Nobody Talks About appeared first on jeffbullas.com.