One of the best trades ever–types of luck

On one random day in July 2005, Kyle McDonald was fidgeting with a red paperclip. Then he thought to himself how awesome it would be if he were to trade that paperclip up for a house or something very valuable. Since he had some experience in trading things for profit.

He posted on Facebook that he wanted to trade the paperclip, looking for anything more valuable than the paperclip.

Eventually, he was able to trade the paperclip for a wooden fish pen.

He then exchanged the wooden fish pen for a knob crafted by a potter based in Seattle. Then exchanged that for a Coleman grill and traveled to Massachusetts to make the trade.

Then traded that for a generator in California.

He was dedicated, he traveled for hours to different locations just for a trade. This gave him momentum and he was getting excited to see where this would lead him.

One day he went to Queens, New York to trade the generator to someone who offered him a vintage neon Budweiser sign.

Days on, a Montreal radio host emailed Kyle to trade his snowmobile for the sign. This event got him national media coverage for his escapades, and this helped him market the products he was trading later on. Later on, Someone called him to trade that for an afternoon with rock star Alice Cooper, which he went on to trade for a KISS snow globe and then for a paid role in a Corbin Bernsen movie.

One year later and 14 trades later, the town of Kipling Saskatchewan, wanted a trade for the role—because some Kipling citizens auditioned for the role, which he then finally traded for a house.

Takeaways

What he did was impressive, some people would argue that he was just lucky that's all.

Well, that’s true in some sense, it depends on how we define luck.

In the book, Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty, neurologist James H. Austin mentioned that there are different types of luck. I think we should be aware of them.

Type 1: Blind Luck

“Chance I is completely impersonal; you can’t influence it.” – Dr. James H. Austin

This is luck from pure chance that occurs without any action. It's completely random and not in our control.

Example: Being born into a rich family and inheriting a Mansion.

Type 2: Luck from motion

This luck arises from being active and putting yourself in situations where opportunities can ride.

Example: Kyle McDonald traded his way up from a paperclip up to a house. He posted the objects on a marketplace and traveled hours to trade. This led to him gaining media attention after months, which then led to him finally trading for a house.

This only happened because he was in motion–taking action.

Type 3: Luck from preparation

This luck comes from being well-prepared and knowledgeable in a specific field subject or field.

Example: Someone who has been in the dropshipping business for quite some time notices that Tiktok is becoming popular, and can be used as a marketing platform for their dropshipping store. Making Millions with high-profit margins easily before TikTok organic dropshipping becomes overly competitive.   

This luck allows you to recognize opportunities when they arise before many others.

Type 4: Luck from possessing unique insights.

“Chance IV favors those with distinctive, if not eccentric hobbies, personal lifestyles, and motor behaviors.” – Dr. James H. Austin.

This luck is often the result of deep thinking, creativity, and the ability to connect pieces of information in marvelous ways.

Example: Someone who loves tech becomes a YouTube tech reviewer who gets good at reviewing tech products and their channel grows rapidly. Leading to them making a lot of money, landing big deals with tech companies, and being invited to take part in prestigious events.

How to increase your chances of luck

The most effective way to get more lucky is by increasing the input.

The more you roll the dice the higher the chance you have to get the lucky number.

The more lottery tickets you buy the higher chances you have to win.

Type 1 isn't in our control, but types 2, 3, and 4 are mostly in our control.

And if you observe most of the successful people and Billionaires, the luck that led them to their position is type 2, 3, 4. 

Knowing these different kinds of luck can help you better position yourself for success.

Create your luck.