How to Notice It, Nurture It, and Live with More of It

Most people underestimate just how much serendipity has shaped their lives. Who among us would be here if not for the serendipity that brought our parents or grandparents together many years ago?
We also like to think we’re rational planners. We map out our careers, pick our partners, plan our days. But if you trace back the most meaningful things in your life, a job, a friendship, a breakthrough idea, chances are something unexpected played a big role.

That’s serendipity at work, doing it’s thing, whether we notice or not.
And it’s far more frequent than most of us realize.

Serendipity Is the Hidden Engine Behind Life

You meet a stranger who becomes a lifelong friend.
You read one random sentence in a book that changes how you see your work.
You click a link out of curiosity, and it leads to a project that defines your next decade.

Those moments might look like “luck,” but they’re actually the visible tip of an invisible pattern: small, random encounters meeting a mind that’s ready for them.

Serendipity isn’t a rare cosmic accident. It’s happening constantly, we just miss most of it because we’re too distracted, too focused, or too certain.

When you start seeing the world as full of potential connections and coincidences waiting to be noticed, it begins to feel like the universe is on your side.

The Good News: You Can Have More of It

The best part about serendipity?
It’s not something you have to wait for. You can learn to encourage it.

By adopting a few habits and mindsets, you can dramatically increase the odds that unexpected, positive things will happen, and that you’ll actually recognize them when they do.

Below are some rules for fostering more serendipity, easy, practical ways to make luck start showing up more often.

Rules for Fostering More Serendipity

1. Be curious about everything.

Curiosity is serendipity’s ignition switch. The more you follow your interests, even odd, tangential ones, the more intersections you create where surprises can happen.

“Chance favors the connected mind.” – Steven Johnson

2. Share what you’re doing.

When people know what you’re working on or what you care about, they can connect you with opportunities you’d never find on your own. Serendipity loves visibility.

3. Change your scenery.

Go where you don’t usually go, different cafés, new online communities, events outside your comfort zone. New environments mean new collisions or intersections.

4. Talk to strangers (and listen).

Every person you meet is a potential connector. Ask questions that open doors…

“What are you working on?”

“What’s surprised you lately?”

“What would you like spend more time on?”

5. Reflect on your week.

Take five minutes to note any “happy accidents”, a new idea, a useful coincidence, a chance encounter. Labeling them trains your brain to see more.

6. Loosen your grip on plans.

Having goals is great, but don’t strangle the path. Stay open to detours, odd invitations, and side quests. Many of life’s best turns aren’t on the map.

7. Create more ‘intersections’ where you can cross paths with new or different people.

Make spaces, literal or virtual, where ideas, people, and fields overlap or intersect. Innovation labs, co-working areas, even an active group chat can serve as serendipity engines.

The More You Invite It, the More It Shows Up

The pattern is simple: awareness + openness + action = more serendipity.
Once you start looking for it, you realize it’s everywhere, shaping your choices, connections, and discoveries in ways that feel both magical and entirely human.

Serendipity isn’t rare. It’s the rule, and there are easy guidelines or rules we can remember to foster more it in our lives.