The two words that got me my PhD

Get ready for your exams with practice questions on Brilliant: brilliant.org/...
Follow me on Twitch to see me going through science and maths papers at A level (and, in the future, beyond!): / drsimonclark
This video is entirely creditable to my dad, who is cool with me stealing his intellectual property (really). It's rather pretentious to say this is a philosophy, this is more like a motto that I refer to when making decisions about work. I hope it's useful to you guys at any rate.
You can support the channel by donating at / simonoxfphys
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Music by: ProleteR
Huge thanks to my supporters on Patreon: Dan Hanvey, David Efird, Suzanna Hofman, Amy Hadden, Ethan Fuller, Charles Bray, Syafiq Kay, Xavier Chesterfield, Jay Wright, Myles Kornfeld, Louis Gillet, Michael Phillips, Fraser Birks, Martin Hermes, Luca Schumann, Rhys Rickard-Frost, Cameron Matchett, Lachlan Woods, Tim Boxall, Simon Vaes, Gabriele Mozzicato, Jawad Alalasi, Gaia Frazao Nery, Kodzo, Claire Anthony, Eve Dillon, Rowan Gow, Matthias Loos, James Bridges, James Craig, Angela, Sanaa Al Derei, Mark Anthony Magro, Liam, Theresa Wang, Kieran Kelly, Wendover Productions, Kendra Johnson, Caitlin Louise.
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Vlogs from Oxford students - / oxvlog
My twitter - / simonoxfphys
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[@PolyMatter]

I love this! I'm frustrated by people who say life is all luck or all hard work. This is the right approach.

[@mostdysfunctionalfamily2725]

Maybe I’m just lucky? I dunno, I do push my luck on too many occasions but I’ve scraped by just by simply going in blind and hoping for the best...

[@hexa3389]

Kind of like light actually.

[@Socratica]

Amazing growth mindset, Simon. Hard work plus humility - no guarantee of success, but giving yourself the best chance of success. Great advice here.

[@rafaelgpontes]

I love you, Socratica!

[@mobeenkamran]

All I could think at 1:01 was “holy shit he met physics girl “ lol priorities

[@zuggrr]

Mobeen Kamran you mean "holy shit physics girl met Simon Clarke " ?

[@manuelbonet]

Same!

[@luisfabricio6439]

I know right 😂😂😂

[@PixelGamer36]

This reminds me of a quote by Louis Pasteur. "Fortune favors the prepared mind". And I completely agree with you, Simon. Now I should probably go back to work. I've been procrastrinating all day now.

[@tibees]

So true 🙌🙌

[@nikkifrozen3814]

Tibees i love your videos

[@davidsweeney111]

Hi Tibees, its great you watch Simon's vids, you are a famous youtuber!!

[@sujoyghosh8612]

Love all your videos Toby! Love from India ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@kamehamehaDdragon]

"Luck favors the prepared mind"

[@JackTheRappist]

Cheese and wine ! Fuck Yes !

[@BirilliantSkyStar]

If I’m not wrong, this quote belongs to Blaise Pascal.

[@smithwillnot]

Your dad looks and acts like the wisest man in the world. I mean this as a compliment, but since I'm bad with words I may have messed up the compliment.

[@TheCartWizard]

How on earth would that sound bad, I'd assume the "acts" part or something?

[@ifteharulhaque2600]

@@TheCartWizard ya

[@Ghost572]

His dad is massively offended even 3 years later.

[@thepinkfloydsound5353]

I dont think you needed to blur the words for the clickbait, nobody knows what proactive serendipity means😅

[@SimonClark]

To quote everyone's favourite auror, CONSTANT VIGILANCE

[@donnathelightningbug]

Thanks, you just saved me ten minutes. I'm guessing it means "if you work hard, good luck will benefit you more and bad luck will affect you less"

[@callie4579]

@@SimonClark AHHHHHH

[@ASparkleyPenguin]

Your dad seems like such a lovely person

[@cil7ea]

Is it weird I noticed PhysicsGirl first, before I did Tom Hanks? 😅

[@manuelbonet]

No, it's not

[@TreespeakerOfTheLand]

Not as me not knowing who Tom Hanks is, I presume

[@green0563]

Same!

[@somecrispywater1146]

Same😂

[@ilhamazad]

Welcome to the club

[@thomaslee6534]

The harder you work the luckier you become.

[@lite6384]

lol you simplified his 10 min video into 8 words

[@finthechat7134]

Some people just do have dumb luck tho. If you take a large enough population, like billions of people, then there are going to be outliers. Some people will be lucky and some unlucky.

[@weaselhunter8324]

Yeah, some poor people are bound to have horrible lives, there isn't anything they could do to make them better. It's not like if they worked harder to increase it they would have any better of a _chance_ to have a better life or anything. Some people are going to have really bad luck in their lives, we get it. The point is that It's up to us to increase our chances of having good luck. Even those people out there with horrible 'luck', still have the ability to increase it by doing the work necessary to achieve it.

[@TMThesaurus]

There are limits to the amount of luck you can get in the first place. Let's say you're a sweatshop worker in Zhengzhou. No amount of work is going to meaningfully increase your chance of getting out of the shitty situation you started in. In addition, this type of thinking often results in people thinking of people who live in poverty as lazy, which is only a small step away from thinking they deserve to live in poverty.

[@antons2473]

That is a Quote from Gary Player.

[@ceryscooper8597]

i have an english gcse tomorrow, and this came at perfect timing. i know a lot of your viewers are doing degrees lol and a gcse may seem small, but i've been doing quite a bit of revision and hopefully it'll go well. thank you for this advice! :)

[@adamt7667]

Cerys Cooper You’re sitting at a good time, grade boundaries are low while teachers still don’t know what’s going on with the syllabus. Good luck

[@amybonnie3790]

I'm currently doing a master's and hoping to do a PhD. But I'm very aware I'm unlikely to get a PhD position, and I start to wonder why I'm bothering doing a master's at all. But after watching this, I now trust that - even if I don't get a PhD placement - putting the effort in now will pay off in one way or another. Thanks for calming down an over-stressing student!!

[@uchihamadara6024]

at 1:00 my first thought wasn't "Oh my god it's tom hanks" it was "Can't believe simon met physics girl"

[@josephharries2816]

Much better title Simon fits in with the KZbin algorithm perfectly

[@EuskaltelEuskadi]

Can your dad get his own channel please?

[@mrfurious60]

😂. Cool suggestion fam

[@nacho6438]

I second that.

[@Donmegamuffin]

I very much agree with you here, and have a similar story of my summers of Proactive Serendipity (if you care to read! ^^ : I started my Physics BSc with ACC a levels, but had made my luck and gotten my university placement, by doing a research project at the university a summer before, and the supervisor for that project was one of the people in charge of admissions to the course. So I got in, worked my arse off, moved from BSc to MPhys as my grades climbed and climbed, and just last autumn, after spending my summer learning C++ in my free time, as I thought it was a valuable skill, a PhD opportunity came up for exactly the kind of field I wanted, extremely competetive, but required strong coding. Well, I'd just spent 3months doing exactly that day in, day out, and after being whittled down to the last 2, and 6 hours of interview later, I got the offer. Those productive summer were my Proactive Serendipity summers Now, with my final exam tomorrow, I don't even have to pass it to achieve my dreams of starting a PhD So wish me luck! (EXTRA: weirdly enough, the two exams I'd probably been the most confident with, and put the most work into during my degree, Id also gotten the least lucky with, which meant I would have bombed them if not for the hard work I'd put in, so lucky, maybe?) Anyway, great video, keep it up!

[@mutchk]

But to do calculate is three words?

[@roamwithken]

oh my god, I love you, from your really stellar book recommendations like "Mindset" to this... top quality content Simon, lots of love, a long time subscriber from Nepal

[@mar3857]

That book is great!!

[@michelepinato1158]

I've first watched this video a few years back and honestly it helped me quite a lot in my journey through uni, I really think this is the best way to look at things. Still, next week I have my last exam and I am utterly terrified at failing it, so I am leaving this comment as a note for my future self. Now back to work

[@raeh.3329]

I was taught this by my dad as well! He phrases it as "Luck happens to the well-prepared", but it is the same sentiment and has helped me put myself in so many "lucky" situations over the years!

[@Physionic]

Really cool concept. Never thought about it that way, but certainly true.

[@sareletje]

This is actually very useful to hear! I've written it on a post-it. Exams in january, eeek!

[@SimonClark]

Best of luck!

[@gasterd5528]

To support Clark's theory of proactive serendipity - I did my year 12 exams a month ago and got my target grades that will go to the university application, however I did only a few days of revision (probably because of stress) and got A B C C for maths, physics, further maths and Chemistry. This is not nearly enough for places like Oxford. However some teachers then helped me and upped the grades based on my effort and the work I was putting throughout the year as well as helping out on open evenings etc. So in the end I got A* A* A B for Maths, Chemistry, Physics and Further Maths, which is quite an improvement.

[@YashBandicoot]

You need to start a podcast. It would be awesome! You have very interesting topics and great knowledge.

[@spookyrabbit19]

He has a podcast already! It's called the wikicast :)

[@haymsingh]

There is a lot in this video that people can draw inspiration and peace of mind from. Personally, i really appreciated the comments on having a mental breakdown and not letting setbacks or failures stop you from pushing forward. I have, unfortunately, been a victim of both this year (2nd year physics undergrad), with the mental breakdown stemming from being not achieving what i wanted and then it setting me back further because I had no motivation to get up after being pushed down. So, it is really nice to hear that even though these issues arise it's not the end of the world. I mean, you've been through it all, you seem to be living an enjoyable life and now I'm taking inspiration from it all. Thank you for these videos, and never stop doing what you do.

[@HowtobeaHarri]

Really liked the sentiment of this video and agree so much with what you've said. It was making myself known as competent/enthusiastic to my undergrad project supervisor that for sure helped me get my PhD place.

[@victoriapownall4871]

I needed this video so much after not being so lucky in an exam. Thank you!

[@edwardsmith7396]

Great vid. Excellent content and presentation. I am hooked. I subscribed. Thanks from Canada.

[@Leo-lx8bu]

Just wanna say, this video is incredible, very inspiring and I think I might try and use those two words from now on, thank yourself and your dad for me haha :D

[@jakepowell2403]

Hey Simon, I love the videos you make. Been watching since my first year of university, and I can hands- down say your videos have been uplifting and very inspirational throughout my Astrophysics course. Cut to 4 years later and I've just recently graduated with a 2:1 w/ honours. All I can say is that this video and the idea of increased probability of luck through putting in effort, definitely hits home. I thoroughly like this approach! Keep up the great work dude!

[@StrLo]

Loved listening to this way of thinking, definitely a big mindset boost!

[@sargambihari4855]

For me what's more inspiring than "Dr. Simon" (the title) is the the willingness and effort and hardwork that Dr. Simon puts in!!! It's really inspiring. Your passion not just about physics or KZbin videos but your excitement and love to work! Wait for videos more than my favourite shows. I am very very very new to the family but a very very very proud subscriber!

[@GatjangDeng]

Love you my brother! This video is relevant for anyone even if one isn't preparing for any exam! Hard work tends to pay off in one way or another in my experience.

[@zaphill4346]

Thanks man. I have a lot of failure my education, but I'm LOVE your wise counsel. It made my mind click and find understanding. I have an academic detour, but I believe things will work out. Again thanks.

[@michaelhudecek2778]

Thank you Dr Simon Clark! I really liked this information you shared with us! 😊😊😊. Michael

[@Antenox]

This is how I started working for a certain organization dedicated to space exploration that I've dreamed of working for since childhood but, in my adulthood, had almost given up on, until proactive serendipty stepped in. I didn’t plan to apply when I browsed their jobs site. And my post-college career was never directed specifically at them (because it always seemed so unattainable). But I pursued a career in a somewhat adjacent field and worked hard at it, knowing that a lot of places would need people like me. As it turned out, many years later, one of those places was my dream job. :)

[@neeldariya8333]

Thanks you Simon for sharing this. At this moment it is the most helpful video. Because it gave me the solution of the problem that I'm facing right now. Thanks a lot.

[@joshuahopgood1160]

"You might open the paper and only find questions in areas you're weak at" ... story of my 4th year atmos exam haha

[@Josh-hi2ti]

Thank you for this video, halfway through my 3rd year finals and this video has really helped me!

[@deadliftbro]

You have really inspired me with all your videos Simon! Please keep this great content coming.

[@anap987]

'Fortune favors the prepared mind.'

[@googlelover13]

A video on life advice with Mr (& Mrs, if she's amiable to the idea) Clark? Just a suggestion.

[@lewisw5048]

Henry Roberts hate to be that guy but... Dr*

[@googlelover13]

Lewis W Clark(s) Sr. is/are doctor(s) too? That I didn't know. That punctuation is frightful. Terribly sorry.

[@lewisw5048]

Henry Roberts Ah I see. I must have misunderstood your message.

[@sargambihari4855]

Yesssss!

[@MrJloucks]

I think I found your channel at a very transformational time in my PhD program. A time where I'm questioning how things will be after and who I will be after. Thanks for the content! Cheers.

[@AlexiMetalPiratex]

God I love this, I don't know how I missed it when it was first uploaded!

[@MiketheCoder]

I NEEDED THIS!!

[@brundhaaa]

This actually motivated me to get up and start working for my SAT math 2, thank you so much 💕

[@RyanBeney]

luck is when preparation meets opportunity

[@sevinm6261]

This is exactly why I get so annoyed at people who only do things when they directly see what it's good for ... I find sentences like "Why are you putting so much effort in that, it won't be graded" incredibly one-dimensional because in the end everything you do, that you put effort in, that makes you a more interesting person will make so many opportunities possible for you in the future that right now you wouldn't be able to see coming. So yeah do cool stuff as much as possible

[@juliahormayer7255]

Diren M !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@TigreXspalterLP]

If you don't do anything beside that I would agree. But you always have to look at the oportunity cost of other activities too. Just passing all exams will yield the best outcome for the least amount of effort. So when you have another hobby you are passionate about you can get more value for your time.

[@satyamsharma8369]

I have been so stressed lately and your video just made my day. Thanks.

[@silvialogan9226]

It is true that the harder that you work the more likely that you are going to succeed. However, even if one studies hard and does not like the subject or has difficulty with it, one can still fail. Simon, what exams did you fail? Was it your undergraduate exams or your PhD ones? Were you still able to graduate with your undergraduate degree?

[@josefstr]

your dad is so lovely :)

[@MexieMex]

It's like all the people who work tirelessly for decades to become an overnight success.

[@PlatycodonPlatypus]

Welcome back Simon!:) Watching this video one month after my exams, all the while being unemployed, did make me feel better :)

[@jeffnatiuk]

Loved this video, thanks Simon!

[@LazarkGaming]

Your dads philosophy is a reworded version of my own. Quicker you learn it, and live by it, the better your life will be.

[@shivakumarcd]

"proactive serendipity" I think its changing my life too... Its not same as "Luck is preparation meeting the opportunity" or "Fortune favors prepared mind", both these are optimistic statements that hides probability of failure. Proactive serendipity nicely encapsulates probability of failure without discouraging once preparation.. Its delicately optimistic...

[@Hafsa354]

Okay I think I am gonna subscribe to you because I am actually thinking about getting a PhD and I find your videos very insightful and that is not because you have a british accent lol.

[@superfred]

Great video Simon! Really good advice too

[@macrovigilance]

Proactive serendipity is how I met my wife. Back in 2006 living in a new town - a girl (girl A) whom I had met the week before invited me for a late night drink. I had, had a long day, was tired and didn't really want to go out as it was 10.30pm when she texted me. But I forced myself to go out as my inner voice said, you ain't going to meet anybody sitting at home. I arrived at the bar at 10.45 and the girl and her friends hadn't arrived yet. So I thought, get a pint in and find a quiet seat and wait. Just as I turned from the bar (pint in hand), a lovely young lady (girl b and now my wife) said hello to me and struck up a conversation. It did get a bit awkward there for a moment when the original girl (a) showed up. But me and girl b we will be celebrating 12 years together this July and have a lovely four year old boy!

[@alikaboosi9276]

I love your personality.❤

[@xioz4534]

Thanks simon really needed that right now

[@davidwilkie9551]

Perhaps "Constructive Calculus" in QM-Time is another terminology that identifies the principles behind Karma, Grace and being born lucky to the right parents etc, for examples of what is always there for anyone to see for themselves...

[@jakeellwood1807]

When Simon uploads a video all revision ceases!

[@redflash4783]

thank you simon

[@moosikal]

What a fantastic life philosophy, thanks Simon. I wish I had learnt this sooner!

[@simonsbeard8085]

Why didn't I get this in my subscription box till now? Great job youtube...

[@abhijeetghodgaonkar]

Woahhhhhh mindblowing insight!

[@olahola12]

I've always relied on serendipity, the lazy kind, not proactive.

[@helenabremermann127]

What a great concept!! I love the way you explained it! Thanks for the great content!! P.S: waiting for my merch to arrive❤️

[@SimonClark]

T shirts should be with me any day now, and they'll be shipped ASAP after that!

[@MrViped100]

Brilliant video. A very interesting philosophy which I will try to harness over the next three weeks ;)

[@AngleofLuck]

so inspiring , Thank you so much

[@rezvlt9285]

Lucky to have a really caring and wise Dad.

[@Grapheneolic]

Another good analogy I heard (coming from more of a STEM perspective), is “increasing your luck surface area”. So you can almost think of it as the greater your luck surface area, the greater the probability of luck occuring… or to continue the technical analogy… increasing your “luck flux” ;)

[@rafaelgpontes]

Man, this video basically describes my life!! Some people think I'm crazy for doing so many things, but what you said is pretty much what happens to people like us!

[@MrWabouz]

Not meant to be rude but the video could be summed up like this: Proactive serendipity : "Chance favors the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur

[@jmkyarrow]

And u got to meet physics girl!!!

[@amayaawijesinghe2059]

Totally love this video!

[@eraera7195]

Thank you! I am going to write down some of the things you said and put it in my diary !

[@Godifathers]

The concept behind your idea of "proactive serendipity" is actually a well researched topic in counseling psychology called the Theory of Planned Happenstance by John Krumboltz. Although this theory can be used in various situations, it is mainly used in career development.

[@Matekaleya]

Hey Simon, can you suggest any useful journal articles about proactive serendipity?

[@jacielespinosa-severo7134]

Omg this is concept that everyone needs to know!!!

[@nmaurok]

Funny to watch this when a few days ago in my English Literature A-Level, I got a question on religious faith which I was hoping wouldn't come up! Luckily the second question was much better suited for me, and (hopefully) I did well

[@tracey941]

It's interesting...in the last 3 days, I listened to an episode of Listen Money Matters that talked about this idea, which lead me to watching Thomas Frank's video on the equal-odds rule. I also watched an interview of Thomas Middleditch with Chase Jarvis, where he gave a similar philosophy on serendipity, and now Simon has made a video on proactive serendipity.

[@drealbrownie2844]

Thanks a lot , jaja i have 16 exams in about 30 week days

[@danbrown8415]

DREAL BROWNIE quite a few jaja

[@enatrienan3295]

Hi simon, This is Kay from India. I have recently subscribed your KZbin channel. It’s really motivates me for doing my PhD further. Thank you so much for making such motivational videos. I am graduated MSc in Aerospace engineering from UK. My GPA is very less which is 2.2. I really wanna do PhD but dint get opportunity because of my MSC grades. Now I am planning for the MPhil in Uk . Do you think I should go for MPhil. Could you please advise me more regarding PhD /MPhil which one I should do?

[@parepidemosproductions4741]

Woah woah woah, how can one be proactively serendipitous? Looking forward to you explain this my friend because serendipity is MY FAVORITE WORD

[@RockDove5212]

Everyone's Grandpa!! Hang on a minute! He's not that old. More like everyone's dad 😉

[@ShirazZiya]

Spot on!!

[@icecreamforever]

Thanks.... your vid touch’s on so much about life in general.

[@juliahormayer7255]

Love this, so true!!!

[@dthephoneme4804]

> misuses "if and only if" physicists... -sincerely, a mathematician

[@lourensed]

hah, a notification for your video about working hard interrupting me studying physics, ironic. Good video Simon!

[@zeusjanseng.lujares7428]

About a game of probability and chances. In DnD, luck is a a type of “feat” that allows you to have a +2 on all saves (Will save, Fortitude save and Reflex save to be exact). 😂 So I guess it makes sense to work on “many” things and at most and you’ll be able to survive the hypothetical “dungeon”. (Although) Luck is about survival at most not success. I want you to think about that too. You STILL need to think about the specific things you need to study. Work smarter AND harder!

[@migueld2456]

This is the best video I've seen on personal advice.

[@tomkache3857]

Couldn't agree more!

[@cosminstanescu1469]

Thanks a lot for all the food for thought you post. You might just be a career savior.

[@TaeNyFan]

Good video! Liked how you associate 'luck' with 'hard work'.

[@zeyadjy7229]

amazing advice thank you

[@Werkschatz]

What are the pros & cons of Twitch? Is there a video on this?