How to Become a Lucky Person: The Shohei Ohtani Method

Excerpt: Luck is not something that happens to you. It is something you build — one small, intentional habit at a time.

Most people think luck is random. You are either born with it or you are not. You either happen to be in the right place at the right time — or you miss it.

Shohei Ohtani disagrees. And given what he has accomplished, it is worth listening to him.

Who Is Shohei Ohtani?

Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese baseball player who does something almost no one in professional baseball can do: he both pitches and hits at an extraordinary level. In a sport where most elite players master one skill, Ohtani mastered two — and did it well enough to be recognised as the greatest baseball player alive, not just in Japan, but in the United States, the home of the sport itself.

That kind of achievement does not happen by accident.

The Mandala Chart: A Framework for Extraordinary Goals

When Ohtani was still a teenager, he used a planning tool called the Mandala Chart — a 3x3 grid with his main goal placed in the centre and eight supporting goals surrounding it.

His central goal was clear: become a professional superstar in America.

Around that goal, he placed eight areas he needed to develop:

Seven of these make obvious sense for an athlete. But the eighth one stops you.

Be lucky?

How do you put luck on a goal chart? How do you train for something you cannot control?

Ohtani had an answer.

How to Train for Luck

For Ohtani, luck was not a passive thing to hope for. It was an active quality to develop — and he broke it down into eight specific behaviours:

1. Read more books — expand your knowledge and perspective
2. Respect referees and officials — show courtesy to those in authority
3. Keep your room clean — maintain order in your personal environment
4. Pick up rubbish — even litter that is not yours
5. Greet people warmly — say hello to everyone around you
6. Be disciplined in caring for your equipment — respect your tools
7. Be optimistic — maintain a positive outlook in all circumstances
8. Be an athlete that people want to cheer for — become genuinely likeable

Look at this list carefully. Not one of these items is about talent. Not one is about physical training. Every single one is about character — about how you show up for other people.

Luck Is a KPI for Being Liked

Here is the insight at the heart of Ohtani's approach:

Luck is not random. Luck is what happens when you become someone people want to help.

Think about the biggest goals in your life. Can you achieve them completely alone? Almost certainly not. Big goals require support — from coaches, teammates, mentors, colleagues, and sometimes complete strangers who happen to be in a position to open a door for you.

But here is the thing: people do not open doors for just anyone. They open doors for people they like, trust, and respect. People who are warm. People who show gratitude. People who treat others — even referees, even cleaners, even people who cannot do anything for them — with genuine respect.

Ohtani understood this as a teenager. Luck is essentially a measure of how likeable and trustworthy you are to the people around you.

If you want others to cheer for you, support you, and give you opportunities — you have to earn that first. Not through talent alone, but through character.

The Mandala in Practice

What makes this framework powerful is not just the insight — it is the structure.

The Mandala Chart forces you to think about your big goal not as a single destination but as a system of supporting pillars. Every pillar matters. Remove one and the whole structure weakens.

Most people plan their careers around skills and results. Ohtani planned his around skills, results, and the quality of his relationships with everyone around him.

That is not a soft idea. That is strategy.

What You Can Take From This

You do not need to be a baseball player to apply this thinking.

Ask yourself: in your field, in your organisation, in your community — are you someone people want to cheer for? Do you greet people warmly? Do you show respect to everyone, regardless of their title? Do you take care of your environment and your tools? Do you show up with optimism even when things are difficult?

These are not small things. Over months and years, they compound into a reputation. And a good reputation — one built on genuine character — is the most reliable source of luck there is.

Be a good person. Show up with care. Someday, someone will notice — and give you a chance you could never have created on your own.

That is how Shohei Ohtani became the G.O.A.T.

And that is how you can become a little luckier too.

References

References

• แปดบรรทัดครึ่ง Podcast — EP2369: How to Become a Lucky Man from G.O.A.T.
• Wikipedia — Shohei Ohtani
• MLB — Shohei Ohtani Player Profile
• Mandala Chart — The Goal-Setting Framework