Caine built a remarkable arcade–out of cardboard–in his father’s auto parts store. Have you seen the film? You should.

Caine showed up every day when he had one customer, when he had no customers.

Caine made something worth talking about, something worth sharing. And eventually a lot of people showed up. And someone started a scholarship fund for him that has raised over $163,000.

Caine got lucky. But not in the traditional sense of “lucky;” in the sense I shared about last week.

What’s stopping you from getting lucky like Caine?

Last week I shared some thoughts on productivity with college students, how to get stuff done. One suggestion: learn to say “no.” “No” acknowledges that you have limited time and resources, that you can’t do everything. If you want to do something great with your life, you have to make choices. Choices require you to say “no” to some things.

In a helpful post at the HBR blogs, Tony Schwarz offers executives the same advice:

Saying no, thoughtfully, may be the most undervalued capacity of our times. In a world of relentless demands and infinite options, it behooves us to prioritize the tasks that add the most value. That also means deciding what to do less of, or to stop doing altogether.

Learn to say “no” to get more done.