How to get luckier

You can miss a great opportunity without ever getting rejected. By the time you hear about it, there may be nothing left to say yes to.

A lot of luck comes down to where you were before you knew it mattered.

A friend puts a trip together and fills the last seat with someone he happened to see that week. A few people start a project with whoever's in the room. Someone needs help this weekend and asks the first person who comes to mind.

You can work harder for the opportunities in front of you and still miss the ones you never hear about.

Some opportunities don't exist yet

Say you want to edit independent films.

You could apply to productions looking for editors. You've got work to show them, and a few of the openings are genuinely promising.

Or you could spend Saturday at a filmmaking weekend, where people show up with ideas, form teams, and try to finish short films together.

On Friday, one team doesn't even know what they're making. By Saturday, they're making a film and need someone to edit it. Someone who's there offers to help.

There wasn't an opening to find on Thursday. The film didn't exist yet.

Applying to existing productions could still be the better choice. If there's a project you really want to work on, go after it.

One lets you pursue work that's already available. The other lets you get involved while something new is taking shape, before anyone has thought about advertising an opening.

Where do the opportunities you want actually begin?

If they tend to emerge while people are already working together, spend some of your effort joining the work, not just looking for openings afterward.

And choose something that'd be worth doing even if nothing else came from it.

What one invitation can open up

Say you've recently moved to a new city.

One Thursday, a friend texts because his five-a-side game is short a player.

Can you fill in tonight?

You go, enjoy the game, and end up talking with a few of the others afterward.

You find out they play most Thursdays. People rotate in and out, and when you ask about coming again, they tell you to show up next week.

So you do.

You start seeing the same people regularly. You grab food after games. A few weeks later, they're making plans for Saturday, and someone asks if you're coming.

A month ago, you were the spare player someone happened to call.

Now you're someone they make plans with.