Welcome to The New Mind Studio — your weekly space to connect, reflect, and grow as you navigate change.
When change hits, you can wait for things to happen or create opportunities.
I’m all in for the second option.
Today, we explore how to manufacture luck through action and visibility.
CONNECT
Entrepreneur Jason Roberts has a concept I love: Luck Surface Area.
The idea is simple:
Luck = Doing × Telling
The more you do and the more people who know about it, the bigger your luck surface becomes.
Think of it like this:
Do great work but tell no one → tiny luck surface
Do okay work and share it widely → bigger luck surface
Do great work and share it → huge luck surface
Luck isn't just "being in the right place at the right time."
It's about creating more places where something good could happen.
In my mind, the engine of that is:
Community × Adaptability
The more you adapt and the more you connect with others, the easier it becomes for luck to find you.
The Luck Surface Area
To "catch" luck, you need to take risks.
One of my favorite ways to do so is through tiny moonshots. Google uses this term for bold, high-impact projects. Moonshots don't have to be world-changing. They can be small bets that stretch you 20–30% beyond comfortable.
REFLECT
Here is how you design your moonshot:
Step 1: Pick your stretch area
Choose one area where you want to grow:
Career – visibility, network, skills
Side hustle – launch, first users, first income
Leadership – team, boldness, experiments
Personal – energy, family, courage
Step 2: Design the moonshot
Use this formula:
"I will [bold outcome] by doing [3–5 concrete actions]."
Here are examples I'm working on this month:
"I will submit 3 speaking pitches by pitching SHINE, M.STORIES, and Women in Tech."
"I will land 1 new newsletter contributor by messaging 5 tech leaders."
Step 3: Follow up (this is where luck hides)
Most people stop after writing the goal.
Stay in the conversation. Most people are busy, and messages slip through.
Now to the uncomfortable bit
Growing your luck surface area is not easy. But knowing what to expect helps you stay in the game.
1. Rejection
More doing × more telling = more no's:
Ignored emails
Declined pitches
Posts no one reads
Here is a reframe I find helpful:
Rejection = proof you're growing, not a verdict on your worth. Each "no" is practice for your courage.
2. The awkward phase
Bold change almost always includes awkwardness:
Low turnout
Early mistakes
People not "getting it" (yet)
Remind yourself: It's a phase, not a failure. If you keep going, skill and luck start to build.
3. Paper walls
Most barriers feel huge in your head. In reality, many are what the entrepreneur Steven Bartlett calls “paper walls”.
They look big until you push:
Asking someone senior for a conversation
Suggesting a small test for your idea
Saying, "I'd like to try that"
Often, the worst that happens is a polite no.
You're back where you started — except now you're braver.
Together, rejection, awkwardness, and pushing paper walls are what let your moonshots actually translate into luck and change.
GROW
In change-heavy seasons, survival mode feels safe.
Head down. Do your job. And wait for the storm to pass.
But that shrinks your luck surface.
People who come out stronger stay visible, curious, and in motion. More rooms. More conversations. More experiments. More chances for something good to happen.
You're literally helping luck find you.
Let's carry the change,
Nadia
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