How to Make Yourself Luckier
You can't control when luck arrives, only whether you're there.
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Derek Sivers sold CD Baby for $22 million in 2008.
Everyone called it luck. Right place, right time. The internet boom. Caught the wave.
What they didn’t see: he’d been building music distribution systems since 1997. Eleven years of showing up before the big exit.
During those eleven years, dozens of other music distribution companies started. Most quit within two years. Some made it five years before selling for nothing or shutting down.
Derek was still there in year eleven when the buyer showed up.
Was selling for $22 million lucky? Absolutely. The buyer could’ve picked any competitor. The timing could’ve been different. A dozen variables outside Derek’s control had to align.
But here’s what people miss: Derek created the conditions for luck to find him. Then he stuck around long enough for it to show up.
That’s not the same as just working hard. And it’s not the same as just getting lucky.
It’s something else entirely.
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