⚡ Get All Content for 20% Off ⚡

How You Can Learn to Have Lucky Genes Find what you're good at -- and then keep doing it.

By Karla Starr

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

ERproductions Ltd | Getty Images

Excerpted from Can You Learn to Be Lucky?: Why Some People Seem to Win More Often Than Others by Karla Starr, in agreement with Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © Karla Starr, 2018.

One shortcut to becoming an expert is to find something you're already good at. Or at least something you pick up faster than others. Talent, after all, is relative -- which is why our confidence in walking increases next to a baby, but decreases next to someone who takes that whole "left right" thing to a new damn level.

Related: There's No Such Thing as Good Luck

Olympians have spent years dedicating themselves to their skill, testing the human body's maximum potential against others at their lifetime physical peak. The Olympics represent the pinnacle of sporting achievement, and just like Carnegie Hall, getting there requires practice -- and victory. Competing in rhythmic gymnastics requires more than uploading videos clearly showing one's ability to make pretty shapes out of ribbons while wearing a leotard; one must also demonstrate superior achievement in public. Despite the variation in how long Karl Anders Ericsson's elite violinists practiced before reaching Carnegie Hall, they all shared one thing: Starting at age 8, they won 67 percent of the competitions that they entered, while those in the lowest-ranking group won only 18 percent of the time. Practice makes the greats even greater; while there was a time when Yo-Yo Ma couldn't even play an F scale, at some point early it became evident that he played better than his peers. Eight-year-old Stephen Hawking wasn't smarter than 40-year-old Stephen Hawking, but he was smarter than other 8-year-olds.

Discovering what you pick up easily gives you the motivation required to get through the practice. Winning increases testosterone, regardless of whom we beat or how skilled our opponents are. Winning provides a confidence boost by allowing us to evaluate ourselves favorably compared with our peers. Having the luck to find something you pick up quickly creates a positive, upward spiral in which confidence and performance bolster each other, making it easier to enjoy and stick with the necessary practice.

Related: 10 Proven Ways to Make Your Own Luck

When we set goals that we're genuinely interested in achieving, we're better able to find the energy and time to pursue them by ignoring temptations or obstacles. While the reinforcement learning signal (the That Did Not Go According to Plan sign) occurs when we get corrective feedback about our actions, it's amplified when we see a link between our behaviors and the outcomes, when we're interested in the outcomes, and when we get a sense that we can actually learn how to correctly modify our behavior to do better next time. Knowing that we can improve, and how to improve, at something that we care about actually makes it easier to learn.

Experts seem crazy because they repeatedly run headfirst into their brain's aversive That Did Not Pan Out signal -- the horrible, effortful tediousness of repeatedly confronting their weaknesses and errors known as deliberate practice -- when it's well documented that what most of us really want in life is to be paid $1 million to eat a sandwich and take a nap. But, this isn't the only method of learning: We can also improve through deliberate "play," a form of unstructured practice guided by the participants. Think of children playing soccer in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, hockey on suburban streets in Minnesota, one-on-one basketball in a park or surfers spending their weekends at the coast. Repeat after me: Forging new neuromuscular connections can be fun. Alas, our opportunities to do so depend on our surroundings.

Vivienne Ming is a theoretical neuroscientist turned serial startup founder whose work on maximizing human potential has helped reveal which traits predict who winds up on top. A few years ago, Ming was invited to a Red Bull-sponsored conference in Santa Monica, Calif., where she happened to eat lunch next to Rodney Mullen, one of the greatest skateboarders of all time. The heel flip? The 360? The flat-ground ollie? He didn't just execute them while winning national championships: He invented them.

Related: Forget Four-Leaf Clovers. Successful Entrepreneurs Make Their Own Luck.

"I began to wonder what's in common between the best developers, the best everybody else, the best salespeople -- and then, truly interestingly, the best skateboarders." Ming prodded him for details about the experience of preparing for and competing in a world championship. She got the expected answer about a superhuman focus until the competition. After the competition, most people would opt for that sandwich and nap; the skateboard greats Rodney Mullen and Tony Hawk are not most people.

"'Well, Tony [Hawk] and I would go back to the after party and drink a little champagne. And then 20 or 30 minutes later, we would be out back practicing new moves.' Which was exactly what I wanted to hear, because [of] what I found in the best developers and the best salespeople. Independent of their skill sets, independent of their grades, I could predict the best people by simply looking at what they did when they didn't have to do it.'" It's after a victory, competition or completion of a project, Ming says, that most of us would say, "'Take a break. No one cares.' But, they do. They are incentive insensitive. They are fanatics." Being able to choose an activity you find genuinely interesting makes it easier to make an effort; people will gladly participate in a demanding activity, just as long as it doesn't feel like work. Having the luck to find something that you love enough to practice a lot creates a positive, upward spiral that makes you want to stick with it. Being forced to do something -- even if it seems fun to others -- dramatically increases the risk of disengagement and burnout.

Karla Starr

Author of 'Can You Learn to Be Lucky?'

Karla Starr has written for O, The Atlantic, Slate, Popular Science, the Guardian and the Los Angeles Times, and appeared on CBS Sunday Morning as an expert on luck. The recipient of a Best Science/Health award from the Society of Professional Journalists, she lives in New York. Can You Learn to Be Lucky? (Portfolio/Penguin Random House; Aug. 14) is her first book. For more information, see kstarr.com.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Remote Side Hustle a 43-Year-Old Musician Works on for 1 Hour a Day Earns Nearly $3,000 a Month: 'All From the Comfort of Home'

Sam Ziegler wanted to supplement his income as a professional drummer — then his tech skills and desire to help people came together.

Business News

Costco CFO Reveals Uncertain Fate of $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

CFO Richard Galanti reveals that the price will stay the same — but only "for a while."

Business News

The Most Unexpectedly Popular Side Hustle of the Decade Has Low Startup Costs and High Markups

A new report shows that vending machines are a popular investment — and the industry is set to grow up to $3 billion by 2031.

Marketing

Ever Wonder Why Certain Websites Rank Higher Than Yours? This SEO Expert Reveals The Secret to Dominating Search Results

It's often the smart use of SEO, now supercharged with AI, particularly in keyword optimization.

Business News

AI Is Impacting Jobs. Here Are the Gigs Affected the Most, According to an Analysis of 5 Million Upwork Postings

The researcher said in the report that freelance jobs were analyzed first because that market will likely see AI's immediate impact.

Leadership

Former Interrogator Shares 5 Behaviors Liars Exhibit and How to Handle Them

Five deceptive behaviors to look for and how to respond to those behaviors when you encounter them.