In his book “Black Swans,” Nassim Taleb describes black swans as events that are both highly unpredictable and have huge consequences.

It’s easy to think of these black swans in just the negative sense. There we are, chugging along in life, and then wham-oh, out of nowhere we get whacked with something unexpected, and things are completely different than they were. Loss of a job, a decrease in income, a poor health diagnosis, wars, pandemics, car accidents, the list goes on.

But Taleb urges the reader to remember that in addition to making ourselves “robust” against negative black swans, we must also think of how to expose ourselves to to positive black swans. How might we collect “free nonlottery” tickets as he calls them. How can we look for, and then grab anything that looks like opportunity. Good chances and lucky breaks come along less often than we think.

So this got me thinking on how I can apply this to my own life. Taleb mentions that living in a city is itself an example of a potentially powerful way to open ourselves and our careers to unplanned, serendipitous positive black swans. The simple density of people buzzing around and bumping into each other at meetings, cocktail parties, etc. is a rich potential source of free nonlottery tickets.

I brainstormed some others for myself. Things that are in my power to do. What would you add for you own life and circumstances?

• Physically spending more time around people and groups that have the behaviors and goals you’re trying to establish
• Publishing 2-3 times per week on my blogs and other websites
• Setting up interviews on my YouTube channel and other video streaming sites
• Sending periodic business ideas to people. Keep a healthy two-way dialogue with smart founders and funders
• Hosting a twice monthly meetup at a local pub or restaurant
• Keeping up better with contacts by making two calls a week to people I haven’t spoken to in awhile
• Owning a venue
• Hosting a weekly meetup in a coffee shop