Plan for Serendipity

5 min readMar 25, 2023

Integrate Serendipity Into Your Life

Serendipity. The opposite of an unfortunate accident. No, not a predictable, orderly path. A happy accident. Something you were not expecting, but offered something positive. An opportunity, a discovery of some sort, or a solution to a problem you have been struggling with.

I am a strong believer in embracing the randomness of life, particularly the type that comes in the form of serendipity. Little less than a year ago, I wrote an article on serendipity (you can find it here), which you can check out for more information about the origins of the word, what it is, and how serendipity is different from fate or chance or luck.

In this article, I want to look into how we can try to weave serendipity into our lives. By design. And how we can make specific steps to factor serendipity into our planning. Sounds contradictory, no? Isn’t the whole point of serendipity that you cannot plan for it? Well, hear me out.

Serendipity is not just hoping for a lucky break. The difference between serendipity and luck is your call, your decision that something is worth your attention, and your action. You decided that this unique encounter, this information, this person is something that you will factor into your life and do something about, turn it into something positive.

Also, to be clear, if we hope for serendipity in the form of the actions of other people, we need to recognize that that is outside our control. Yes, we can influence things, but at the end of the day, we are not in control. Therefore, what we can do is maximize the likelihood of a happy accident. Increase the odds. Nothing more.

Here we go.

Be Curious. Explore, observe. You need an open mind to spot opportunities that others pass by. Change up your routine. If you usually work at home, sometimes work at a local library or a bookstore. Or a cafe. Read something that you would not normally go for. Take a walk, and change your regular route. Try a different gym, a different place to eat, or a different mode of transportation. Ideas can come to us in all kinds of places.

Don’t Overplan. Leave space for the unexpected. When traveling, for example, sometimes just taking a random walk may help you discover amazing things you did not know existed. If you have ten minutes at work, don’t cram another e-mail into it. Taking a walk around the office, and a chat with a random colleague may give you a new perspective or a new insight.

Do the Work and Get Good. If you build a reputation as an expert in your domain, people will talk about that. So don’t just be satisfied with being good enough. No one spreads the word about people who are average. But if you are really good at something, if you have a good reputation, you will be amazed at how many people you don’t even know have heard about you. We have no idea how many times other people talk about us — do your part so when they do, they say good things.

Communicate. While a good reputation often speaks for itself, you should not just rely on that. You need to communicate. Give visibility to what you do. Think of how you could tell a story about what you do, a story that can captivate an audience. Next time someone asks you at a party or a coffee break of a conference, about what is it that you do, tell the story in an original way. That takes practice.

Build a Network. Meeting people is not difficult, but maintaining a network takes work. Invest in it. Seek out interesting people in your industry or related fields. Get in touch. Start a conversation. Ask questions. Someone who may remember the interaction with you may recommend you to someone else. You never know. But also be prepared for being rejected. That’s ok.

Communicate More! Write about your work, your hobby, or whatever it is that you want other people to know about. Start a blog. Do a podcast. Create a YouTube channel. There are many reasons to do that and I won’t go into detail (check out Austin Kleon’s book Show Your Work). Let’s just say — you can dramatically expand your audience and potential opportunities. You will also get a lot of feedback, including some completely unique and unexpected feedback, which can help you hone your craft and get even better.

Be Generous. This is no trivial matter. Help others. Support people’s ideas and projects. People will remember that. Kindness and generosity may seem like they do not get you anywhere, but the impact is usually delayed. I know of people whose kind act was repaid manyfold years after they helped someone, sometimes in a completely unexpected way. Check out my article Cultivate and Practice Generosity.

Cultivate Your Interests. I mean your interests outside work. Your hobbies. You will open up completely new circles of people you have something in common with and dramatically expand your networks. Also, don’t just dabble in such activities — truly invest, improve, and eventually, innovate. Very often, people you communicate with will remember you for your interesting hobbies, rather than your work, and this may bring opportunities your way simply because you are more likely to be remembered. Check out my article Hobby 2.0 for more on this.

Randomize Your Inputs. Every once in a while, review your information storages. Go through the folders in your mobile hard disc that stores terabytes of files collected over many years. You may come across something that spurs you into action, reminds you about an old project you might want to implement, or gives an idea for a new one. You may find the music you did not listen to in ages, or photos you forgot about, you name it. Look through your notes on Evernote or Notion (or whatever you are into). You may come across something that helps you with your current problem or inspires you to do something new.

Read. I cannot recommend this enough. Reading is the single most effective method for enriching your life and simultaneously making you more interesting to other people. Reading can create serendipity like nothing else. It will provide you with a constant flow of ideas that you can apply in your work, your hobbies, and your interactions with other people. Check out my article on reading (here). In it, I go over why you should read, how, and what to read.

So be curious. Be ready. And keep an open mind. Good luck!

Check out my other articles:

Plan for Serendipity

Written by Rational Badger