Cultivating serendipity

The first time someone told me “you’re so lucky”, I didn’t really know how to react.

I’ve heard it many times since.

There’s a word in English I really like: serendipity. It describes those moments when something valuable appears unexpectedly.

Most people treat it like luck.

Like something random. Something reserved for a few fortunate people.

I don’t see it that way.

Serendipity is not something you wait for.

It’s something you build.

You don’t find opportunities.

You expose yourself to them.

Preparing the ground

Around eight years ago, I left my hometown.

Since then, people often tell me I was lucky to have the chance to work on large-scale, impactful projects.

But people usually see the outcome.

Not what came before.

Going to events.

Organizing meetups.

Writing posts like this one.

Meeting people outside my usual circle.

Trying ideas that sometimes worked, and many times didn’t.

Most doors don’t open.

Most attempts lead nowhere.

But that’s not the point.

The goal is not to succeed every time.

The goal is to create more chances for something unexpected to happen.

Serendipity is not a lottery ticket.

It’s more like planting seeds without knowing which one will grow. Like we did at school.

Iterating after failure

One of the clearest examples for me was doing job interviews in English.

At the beginning, it went badly.

I failed interviews.

Again and again.

I remember finishing some of them knowing it didn’t go well.

That uncomfortable feeling stays with you.

So I prepared more and tried again.

And failed again.

At some point, I realized that if I wanted different results, I had to change how I was preparing.

I started practicing English at home.

Speaking out loud, even when it felt a bit ridiculous at the beginning.

Sometimes I rehearsed answers.

Sometimes I explained technical concepts as if I were already in the interview.

I practiced monologues.

Prepared small speeches before meetings.

And then I did something harder.

I started asking for feedback.

Real feedback.

That meant putting my ego aside and accepting there were many things I needed to improve.

Step by step, things started to change.

Interview after interview.

Iteration after iteration.

You try.

You fail.

You adjust.

You try again.

From the outside, it might look like luck.

But the reality is different.

That moment was built on many failed interviews before it.

Consistency is what makes luck visible.

The illusion of shortcuts

It’s tempting to believe good results come from shortcuts.

A faster path.

A lucky decision.

Being in the right place at the right time.

But shortcuts rarely tell the full story.

What looks like a shortcut is often the visible part of a long, uncomfortable process.

You see the result.

You don’t see the repetition behind it.

And there’s something else.

Even when shortcuts work, they skip the most valuable part:

What you build along the way.

Skills.

Confidence.

Resilience.

Perspective.

Those things don’t come fast.

Changing the inputs

If we all read the same books, use the same tools, and follow the same routines…

Why would we expect different results?

Following the same advice as everyone else often leads to the same outcomes as everyone else.

Sometimes life feels like running a script.

Wake up. Work. Repeat.

To change the outcome, you need to change the inputs.

Sometimes the change is big.

Moving to another country.

Changing jobs.

Starting something new.

Sometimes it’s small.

Taking a different route.

Going to an event where you know nobody.

Talking to someone outside your usual circle.

Trying a new technology.

Sharing your ideas publicly.

Every small change introduces uncertainty.

And uncertainty creates possibility.

Different inputs don’t guarantee success.

But they make different outcomes possible.

Serendipity

Serendipity is not magic.

It’s what happens when preparation, curiosity, and persistence meet.

Most attempts will lead nowhere.

That’s normal.

But each attempt slightly increases the chances that something unexpected appears.

And when it finally does, people will say:

“You were lucky.”

But luck is just the name people give to a process they didn’t see.