There's an old saying: "I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
There's something profound behind that observation. The more effort we put into something, the more likely we may be to succeed. Not because hard work guarantees success, but because taking action can change our odds.
Think about the people who seem unusually successful. The entrepreneur whose business takes off. The writer who finds an audience. The professional who lands an incredible opportunity.
It's tempting to attribute their success to talent, intelligence, or luck. Those things certainly matter. But there's another factor worth considering: how many times they tried.
They got their reps in.
The Power of Repetition
A rep is simply an instance of doing something. Another attempt, another practice session, another opportunity to improve or succeed.
We usually associate repetitions with the gym, where consistent training builds strength. But the principle extends well beyond physical exercise.
Every time you practice a skill, apply for an opportunity, or create something and put it into the world, you're getting a rep.
And those repetitions can improve your chances of success in two distinct ways.
Investment Reps: Getting Better Through Repetition
The first type is what we might call an investment rep.
Investment reps gradually improve our ability to achieve a particular outcome. Each repetition is a small investment in future competence.
Consider someone learning to play the piano. Their first attempts might be awkward and frustrating. Their fingers move slowly, they struggle to remember notes, and even simple songs require considerable concentration.
But with practice, movements become more automatic, patterns easier to recognize, and difficult compositions more manageable.
The same principle applies to writing, public speaking, programming, and countless other skills.
Experience accumulates. With each meaningful repetition, we have an opportunity to identify mistakes, refine our approach, and deepen our understanding.
The benefits can also compound.
As our abilities improve, we become capable of tackling challenges that previously seemed beyond our reach. Those challenges create opportunities for further growth.
Our hundredth rep may be more valuable than our first because we've developed the foundation to recognize patterns and learn lessons that would have escaped us as beginners.
Every meaningful repetition is an investment in the person we're becoming.
Luck Reps: Creating Opportunities for Success
The second type operates differently.
While investment reps improve our abilities, luck reps increase our exposure to opportunities.
Imagine two equally qualified people looking for a job.
One submits five applications. The other submits fifty thoughtful applications to suitable positions.
All else being equal, the second person has generally created more opportunities to receive an offer.
The principle applies to countless pursuits.
An entrepreneur who pitches twenty prospective customers creates more opportunities to make a sale than someone who pitches two. A creator who publishes consistently gives their work more chances to be discovered. Someone who regularly meets new people creates more opportunities to develop meaningful relationships.
Each attempt is another chance for something good to happen.
This is especially powerful because success often has asymmetric upside. In many pursuits, the reward from a single successful attempt can far outweigh the cost of numerous unsuccessful ones.
A business owner might hear "no" from dozens of prospective customers before securing a transformative contract. A writer might publish dozens of articles before one reaches an unexpectedly large audience.
You don't necessarily need most of your attempts to succeed. Sometimes, you only need to be right once.
That's the value of luck reps. Rather than waiting for opportunities to arrive, you actively increase your chances of encountering them.
The more doors you knock on, the more chances you give someone to open one.
The Best Reps Do Both
Investment reps and luck reps aren't mutually exclusive. Some of the most valuable activities accomplish both simultaneously.
Consider someone who publishes a weekly newsletter.
Every article is an investment rep. The writer practices organizing ideas, communicating clearly, and developing a distinctive voice.
But every article is also a luck rep. Each publication creates another opportunity to reach readers, attract collaborators, or open unexpected doors.
And the two effects reinforce each other.
As the writer improves, their work may become more compelling and more likely to attract attention. Meanwhile, publishing consistently creates more opportunities for that improved work to be discovered.
The same dynamic applies to entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, and professionals across nearly every field.
Investment reps prepare you for opportunities. Luck reps help you encounter them.
Some Cautions
1. Not All Reps Are Created Equal
There's an important distinction between getting more reps and simply doing more work.
Repetition is powerful, but volume alone doesn't guarantee progress.
Someone who practices a skill incorrectly a thousand times may become exceptionally good at doing it incorrectly. Someone who sends hundreds of poorly targeted applications may accomplish less than someone who submits a smaller number of thoughtful ones.
And although many pursuits don't require the physical recovery periods associated with strength training, mental effort has limits. Exhaustion can undermine creativity, impair judgment, and reduce the quality of our work.
The goal isn't to accumulate as many repetitions as humanly possible. It's to accumulate as many meaningful repetitions as we can sustain.
For investment reps, that means practicing deliberately, seeking feedback, and adjusting our approach. For luck reps, it means pursuing genuine opportunities rather than confusing activity with progress.
It also means recognizing when something isn't working.
If you've made fifty attempts without success, the answer might be to try fifty more. But it might also be time to change your strategy, improve your skills, or reconsider which opportunities you're pursuing.
The objective is productive persistence, not mindless repetition.
2. Stop Judging Every Rep by Its Outcome
One of the biggest obstacles to consistent action is our tendency to judge attempts by their immediate results.
You apply for a job and don't get an interview. Failure.
You publish something and nobody notices. Failure.
You start a project and it doesn't work out. Failure.
But this overlooks how progress often happens.
An unsuccessful attempt can still teach you something, sharpen your abilities, or make your next attempt more effective.
And sometimes, even when an attempt produces no obvious benefit, it was worth making because the potential reward justified the effort.
A well-considered opportunity doesn't become a bad decision simply because it didn't work out.
This matters especially in pursuits where success is unpredictable.
You can't control whether every application receives a response, every business idea gains traction, or every creative project finds an audience.
But you can control how often you show up, how thoughtfully you approach each attempt, and whether you apply what you've learned.
Instead of judging every rep by its outcome, ask yourself two questions:
Did this rep make me better?
Did this rep create a meaningful opportunity?
If the answer to either is yes, there's a good chance you're making progress, even if the results aren't immediately visible.
Making Your Own Luck
There's a reason people who consistently take action often appear luckier than those who don't.
They're creating more opportunities for favorable outcomes while developing the skills to capitalize on them.
Of course, circumstances, timing, resources, and randomness all influence success. Hard work guarantees nothing, and people don't always begin with equal opportunities.
But within the circumstances we can influence, repetition is one of the most powerful tools available.
You don't have to be the smartest person in the room to start. You don't need extraordinary talent or certainty about how things will turn out.
You need to be willing to act, learn, adjust, and act again.
Because every meaningful rep has the potential to make you better, create an opportunity, or accomplish both.