Is success mostly luck, or is it hard work?

People love to debate this question, but history shows that luck and hard work are not opposites. They actually work together.

In 1928, Alexander Fleming spent countless hours in his lab. Before leaving for vacation, he accidentally left a petri dish open. Mould drifted in, killed the bacteria inside, and that lucky accident led to penicillin.

Was it luck? Absolutely. But if Fleming hadn’t spent years studying bacteria, he might have just thrown the dish away without noticing its importance.

Consider Steve Jobs. After leaving college, he chose to take a calligraphy class just because he liked the posters on campus. He never thought it would help his career. Ten years later, that one “useless” class inspired the Macintosh’s unique typography. Luck gave him the experience, but hard work and vision turned it into a breakthrough.

Here’s how luck and hard work work together:

• Hard work expands your “luck surface area.” The more actions you take, the more chances you give serendipity to find you.
• Luck is a multiplier. It turns a 10x effort into a 1000x outcome.
• Preparation catches luck. Without the work, luck flies right past you because you aren’t ready to use it.

This idea is called “Luck Engineering.”

So, how can you create more Luck in the content industry?

Viral moments and changes in algorithms can seem random, but you can actually create more luck in content by doing four things:

• Take more chances (Publishing Volume): You can’t always know which content will go viral. If you post once a month, you have 12 chances a year. If you post every day, you have 365. The more you post, the more likely luck will find you. (Although it can’t be done, if you are making the highest quality and work with different approaches, staying consistent with that approach is key)

• Try different formats (Opening New Doors): Don’t stick to just one style. Experiment with short stories, visuals, opinions, or in-depth pieces. Each new format helps you reach a different audience online.

• Raise your baseline quality (Preparing for the Spike): Hard work means that when luck brings lots of visitors to your profile, your content is strong enough to turn them into loyal followers, not just one-time viewers. Replying to comments, sharing unpolished ideas, and collaborating puts you in the direct path of opportunities, brand deals, and viral shares that never happen behind closed doors.

Hard work gets you started, but luck decides how far you go. Since you can only control your own effort, focus on building a steady content routine so you’re ready when luck comes your way.

Can you think of a point in your career when a bit of luck made all the difference?