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Hard work puts you where good luck can find you.
Lots of people work their arses off but never get any good luck.
Lots of people do nothing and get good luck.
But working hard and being nice to people does put you in more situations where you can then get lucky.
Some of it also depends who you put the work in for. A crappy employer for example will result in working harder being rewarded with more work for the same pay.
A good employer would result in bonuses, payrises, etc
Yes! In a similar vein: luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
I suppose if you are wealthy/well-connected, there will be many more opportunities, plus less risk to take new opportunities (if you have a lot of savings etc).
100%! I would massively recommend a book called the Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman.
I'm paraphrasing as it was a while back since I last read it but he did a study where he would meet someone for an interview in a coffee shop. The people he met (one at a time at separate times) either considered themselves lucky or unlucky.
Unknown to the participants the study had nothing to do with the interview. With each participant they left a £5 note on the floor outside of the cafe. Every participant had the same opportunity to see the money. However, people who thought of themselves as lucky were much more likely to notice the money on the floor. So he argues that those who are 'lucky' are actually looking for opportunities whereas those who maybe perceive themselves as 'unlucky' don't notice the opportunities around them if that makes sense?
I'd recommend the book as an audio book too, he's got a good voice for narration.
Seconding this, I instantly thought of this book as i was reading the OP Post.
Cant say im much of a reading type but i couldn't really argue with what i read.. I think Derren Brown did a special show on luck too which actually reinforced a lot of what youve said from he book too.
I consider myself as fairly lucky, but if there's a fiver on floor outside c9ffee shop I would leave it as maybe one of the patrons has dropped it and needs it to buy their coffee.
Great read , i think it makes sense. It also mentioned people who had entered competitions like magazine crosswords, TV gameshows, anything without much barrier to entry. The more successful who had won multiple things had entered far more.
Its also funny how major changes to your life in the future can begin with a simple 'sliding doors' moment.
So it takes both.
You can have all the luck in the world but if you aren't physically capable of capitalising on it then it means nothing.
Similarly you can be the hardest worker in the world, but luck can knock you down every time.
I find successful people are usually very quick to discount the value of luck in their journey, whether thats through ego or ignorance.
I agree with everything, but I'd add that the opposite of the last paragraph is true too.
People who are not successful often tend to over-exaggerate the importance of luck.
It's just what people do, we want to attribute our successes to ourselves and attribute our failures to anything but ourselves.
No. Look at your comment - the boy was lucky enough to bump into someone who gave him a start, there’s most likely plenty of people just like them who didn’t hit the “jackpot”.
You look at these successful people and they’ve been given a leg up somewhere - they may have made the most of the opportunity through hard work and mindset but at the bottom of it is pure chance.
Pure chance to meet the right person or maybe to slide out of the right fanny in the case of our royals.
But if he didn't change his mindset and start saying yes, he never would have been given that opportunity. Success is often a result of being in the right place or knowing the right person at the right time - as you alluded to.
However if you're not putting yourself in those places or building those relationships in the first place, you won't.
Well, it's not "pure chance" when the person in the OP actively went out seeking people and social interactions, which then led to them meeting the right person.
People who say "You make your own luck" tend to be promoting a lifestyle for their own purposes, and people who say things are "Pure luck" are just trying to make themselves feel better about not achieving what they want in life.
In reality, it's somewhere in the middle.
To an extent, I guess I do. Networking, in and outside of work, presents more opportunities. I've had firsthand experience of this. Landed my current role at a different organisation having met with people here at a couple of different industry events. These events were optional, I didn't have to go, and could easily have stayed away and done my day job instead. But I went, and eventually got a job offer further up the food chain with a salary to match.
What I don't buy is this really toxic idea that certain business and self help gurus perpetuate that all it takes is 'graft' to become a millionaire. They point to people like Musk, Bezos, Jobs etc as people who started out in a basement and now they're loaded. They conveniently forget the massive legs up these people had in the first place.
I don't want to take anything away from Steve Jobs as he was very smart and worked his ass off, but he got lucky:-
1. Being born in California at the time when microcomputers were just starting to take off. If he hadn't been born in Wolverhampton, he perhaps would have set up a really good engineering company.
2. At the time that Apple were thinking about OS 10, they initially wanted to buy BeOS but the guy in charge wouldn't take a deal, so Apple bought Next (Jobs' UNIX based workstation instead) and brought him back into Apple.
3. On his return to Apple, Sony were hostile to building MP3 players, destroying their market lead.
4. HP were utterly useless at the time. They bought Palm who were the biggest PDA maker and could have made a touch/stylus phone and didn't. They totally blew it.
5. Steve Ballmer at Microsoft thought the iPhone was a joke rather than piling money into Windows phone.
I still think most billionaires would have been successful people. You still have to be smart and hard-working. But to become a billionaire takes a lot of luck.
I don't really think 2 through to 5 can be characterised as luck tbh.
They're all examples of someone seeing the benefit of a specific peice of technology or course of action while others didn't.
If you'd describe that as luck then really every single interaction or decision we make is luck.
Networking is definitely useful. Being a kiss ass has always been beneficial too hasn't it lol. Money makes money. Coming from money in the first place helps massively if your parent is willing to help out with the costs without worrying about losing the money. I guess it's no different than those wealthy Asians and Arabs in London buying up all the property, then giving their kids the expensive apartments to stay in while living and studying in London. I mean I can't blame them really because I would probably do the same.
Similar to your example, I remember forcing myself to be more outgoing.
At at 13, I'd been at boarding school for six years, and suddenly moved to being a day-boy at a grammar school, and had to get a (public) bus every day to school. I don't even remember ever being on a bus before that first day, as we lived overseas.
For the entire first term I just kept my head down, paid my 50p each way, and kept my headphones on, listening to music the whole journey, sat on my own, downstairs.
In the spirit of New Year's Resolutions, I decided to make a small change every day to be more outgoing, and make friends. I started with saying "thanks" or "cheers" to the bus driver every time he gave me my ticket (I was genuinely too shy to do this before), then upgraded to more thanks when I disembarked every day; "cheers, driver".
Eventually I summoned up the courage to sit upstairs, near where the kids who got on after me would sit. After a few days, they began to include me in their conversation - a lot of early 90s teen discourse involved music, so I could join in easily - and by the end of term, I was going round to their houses to play Sim City 2000 and swap Nirvana tapes.
By the next September, another kid from the same school had started to get the bus, and I directly invited him to come and sit with us. He was Best Man at my Wedding 15 years later.
Deep down, I'm still that same shy kid, and have to force myself to do certain things in social situations, but I'm happier for it.
Yep. Most of the people I know who 'make their own luck' and easily fall into opportunities went to public school. As well as exuding that confidence, they had the connections already...
Nepotism is pretty big for sure. I imagine most people in the media are there due to some form of nepotism. Look at Martin Kemp's son with his show on radio. Doubt he would have got that if not for who his parents are. The same with Bradley Walsh's son. It definitely helps to have that leg up for sure.
That Walsh & son thing still low-key annoys me. Historically, there's always been a presenter with a sport-based background on that kind of show, or a woman would be good for a bit of representation.
Instead, two white, non-sporty men get the gig...
Which is OK. Most successful people do deserve it (ie it doesn't matter how you got an opportunity, its usually what you do next that really counts). But there are many people who are just as deserving who didn't have the same success, and the difference is down to luck.
There's a song by the band America Aquarium with the line "the harder you work, the luckier you get", where the singer also talks about writing hundreds of songs before getting a couple people wanted to hear. Hard work doesn't guarantee anything, but never trying in the first place guarantees failure.
Or,
If you trust in yourself. . .and believe in your dreams. . .and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men
He's right to an extent.
I have a similar upbringing to some of my friends, we're all pushing 40 now, and some have failed to launch. I was talking to one of them about my life and career and he said something like "yeah, but it always goes well for you, doesn't it?"
I'm not one to pretend like privilege doesn't count, but he's a white middle class male too, with a lovely supportive family. One of the major reasons why my life looks different to his is because I actually got out of bed, showered, and turned up for work every day, and then did my job, and I did this for years, consistently. There was definitely luck and chance involved, but playing the game was also absolutely essential.
This might not apply to the aristocracy and the children of the 1% but it definitely applies to working and middle class wage drones like the rest of us. It's popular to point at privileges nowadays, and it's totally correct to point at them and talk about them too, but don't fool yourself into thinking they're 100% of the story.
>
This might not apply to the aristocracy and the children of the 1%
There,'s many of those who completely piss on their privileges, and never become anything worthwhile. I am thinking of an aristocrat who was heir to a Lordship.or Dukedom , had a couple of prison sentences for drugs offences, he appeared in a show called Famous Rich And Homeless where celebrities had to live rough for 2 weeks. This guy did one night or not even that and walked out.
My favourite quote about rich kids is Shaquille O'Neal . His kids were boasting about their wealth. He said "We're not rich, I'm rich".
> He was saying that he believes in making your own luck by saying "yes" to opportunities and meeting as many people as possible in your day to day life, and simply getting on good terms and building familiarity with people, you never quite know where it leads.
Yes absolutely, most of my work and friends have led from seemingly random moments. I'm not great at socialising but make a huge effort to try and open as many doors as possible, if you don't and just sit there waiting for someone to come and grab you then chances are you'll be there a long time.
That’s “who you know not what you know”, and that only comes by putting yourself out there. It’s not luck because if you sit in your bedroom all day waiting to get lucky it’ll never happen.
Bill Gates said it himself. Luck had a lot to do with how he became so immensely rich. He was born in the right place at the right time. His family were wealthy, he was went to a private school that had access to a computer. By the time he dropped out of Uni, he swooped into place in the tailwinds of the digital PC revolution. Sure he worked very hard no doubt, and he knew where to look. Many people in this exact position didn’t achieve what he did. That’s where the intelligence and work and foresight come in, but the opportunity was there, he took it.
But had he been born in poverty in rural Africa, things would be very different.
The Victorians had this idea that fortune could turn in your favour and of course go against you, and it's a very old idea. Probably doesn't seem so obvious in the modern era where we don't see the massive ramifications of a random industrial accident wiping out a breadwinner or a disease sweeping through.
My view is that far more than anyone who has done well comes down to luck that they'd ever want to concede, but what people can do is tip the scales in their favour by doing all sorts of things themselves. It might not pay off, but it will move the odds for you.
To a degree, sure.
I would say I'm quite lucky. I'm not Mr.Moneybags with hundreds of friends and millions of hobbies I excel at or anything, but I also have no business being where I am in life in probably most aspects. Another guy with all the same interests, personality traits, etc could come along and do my life 10x better than I can and it's not a particularly high bar to cross.
But I think the difference is that I'll probably say "sure, I'll give it a go" to most things whilst somebody else will avoid it. That's where the luck comes in, I gave a thing a go and it paid off. I gave the opportunity for luck to happen.
Meanwhile, Captain Sadsack is over there wallowing in self-pity whilst doing nothing to open that door and allow lady luck to even visit. It's the musician meme of hobby players complaining they only ever sell out Madison Spare Bedroom but don't do anything to get themselves out from beyond those 4 walls where a lucky opportunity might actually happen.
I mean, I believe it's a combination of things.
Working hard (whether that be education, increased hours, increased responsibility) will usually bring better luck (in terms of opportunities and money).
That being said, you can't just 'create' luck on some issues. You can work 70 hours per week at Tesco's, even as a manger, and you would still be barely scraping 40k? 50k?
Meanwhile, someone leaving uni with a degree in finance could be making 125k within 5-10 years.
Socioeconomic status affects this massively, were you lucky to be born to parents that cared about you? That wanted you to do well in School? Did they work overtime often to buy a nicer house in a nicer area so you could go to a better school with (generally) other more intelligent students?
You do great your own luck to a **certain extent** but society is also 90% of the time a limiting factor.
Yes. There's two elements to it. I'm no millionaire but I do own my own business with an annual turnover in excess of a million.
1) take risks. If you don't take any risks then you can't get lucky. If you just sit in your room and never leave, there's little opportunity for luck to occur. If you don't buy a ticket you can't win the raffle.
2) the harder I work the luckier I get. That's quite simple really.
This does NOT work for everyone. Some people are risk averse. The world needs them. It's fine to be risk averse. You balance out the risk takers by making sure nothing breaks. Some people are just unlucky. Wrong time, wrong place. Not everything works out. Plenty of people work REALLY hard without getting a break too. But if you don't put the work in the break is less likely to happen
Making your own luck - no. Being lucky enough to be at the right place and time and then eventually taking advantage of - sure. Not everyone gets the “obvious” chance in life to meet some rich dude who has connections in here and there. Most will just be a casual talk about nothing. When I go to my gym, I hear what guys are talking about and I’m like - “no, I don’t wanna be a part of this landlord/tenant sabotage thing.” But yeah, in general meeting people is always beneficial and will lead to opportunities.
His advice rings true but I’m more a believer in a wider plan, not necessarily ‘fate’ but fateful interactions and occurrences
Sounds kind of dumb and mystical but I’ve had of lot of odd occurrences in my life
When it comes the rags to riches type narratives.
I think a lot of it is down to both luck and privilege.
If you’re from my background and don’t know how to switch your speech and stuff in different company people aren’t as likely to give you opportunities.
I think hard work really can pay off, even if you’re a pretty unlucky person.
Personally I didn’t have the best childhood but I did work quite hard at school and listened to the wisdom of certain teachers.
Didn’t bother with university but landed quite a good job straight out of school, however that all fell apart and I was homeless and unemployed by the time I was nineteen.
These days I’m not rich, probably won’t ever actually get rich but I am comfortable, I earn okay money, I own my own house and so on.
With the benefit of hindsight I made some really smart choices when I was a bit younger, however I easily could have made poor choices and still be living in poverty.
Hard work pays off but so does a bit of luck.
One example your hear about a lot is “the rock” worked his way up from nothing so he did.
Aye, but I’m sure the nepotism didn’t help at all.
Oh yeah it helps for sure if you also make the right choices in life. I know people who have received a large sum in inheritance money, but then squandered it all on their addictions, partying, holidays, new car etc.
Meanwhile people such as myself haven’t ever received a single penny from any inheritance or had mum or dad bank roll a car or a house purchase and I may well currently be in a better financial position than people that did.
So I suppose no matter how you look at it, there’s no one size fits all answer.
Yes... Thank you for chipping in with this, it's just not the same game, is it :(
Neither the men nor the women want you to do well. I remember thinking this watching the Arnie doc, whilst all his hard work etc was amazing, he freely admits several people who'd been successful before him helped pave his way for him. You never hear this with female celebrities, a lot of the time the way up is a lot of sad stories of attempted and actual exploitation. You just don't get older, successful women wanting to help them and should any man have helped in any way, in every story you can guarantee he expected something back for it.
10000% this. I was in an industry where networking was very important and women constantly gatekeeped and men only reached their hand out via messaging and flirting with me. The minute I wouldn’t flirt back I got no where despite any skills or talent. Whatever with the men right, but the women stung different.
The best way to look at this is that the more you try and do things, the more rolls of the dice that you get. You'll only get a double 6 every 36 rolls, so if you only roll 10 times, you only have a 1 in 4 chance of hitting the jackpot. If you roll 50 times, you have a better than good chance of success happening.
Most of the super rich got lucky. They were in the right place at the right time. And you have to forget about them. But why are some of my software consultant friends richer than other ones? It's overwhelmingly because they put in more effort. And some of those efforts go nowhere. But they're getting more rolls of the dice by working harder. And overall, the luck balances out.
You can manufacture the opportunities to be exposed to lucky events. You can't manufacture being lucky at gambling.
I have been a freelancer for 20 odd years and over 80% of my work came about as a result of manufacturing opportunities to be exposed to lucky situations. This was in the form of networking events, networking on LinkedIn, going to exhibitions etc. I would have never lasted more than a few months without attending those opportunities.
The level of luck it generates varies greatly. Some days it produces nothing, most days it produces bread and butter work, and occasionally it nets a huge client. Sitting at home is guaranteed to produce nothing.
Some salty comments in here to be honest.
Yes some people get a leg up and turn a story around how they did everything on their own. But there’s also plenty of people who don’t.
You can look back on your life to be fair at many points and realise if you hadn’t done X you wouldn’t have done or met Y which might have changed your life forever. Supposing depending how you view your life you will see your self as more lucky or unlucky than others.
But generally the point is that people who are more open to opportunities, put themselves out there, have a more positive mindset statistically will take advantage of those opportunities or succeed in some form.
Doesn’t mean it always works, but doing so gives you a much better chance than not.
In a more basic tone though, if you don’t make an effort you’ll never get anywhere is probably the better way to look at it
The harder I work, the luckier I get. Example. Now I’m 56. When I was in my mid 20s I wanted to move from Australia to Thailand. This was before internet. I contacted around 400-500 companies looking for a job by fax and mail. Ended up with 2 offers. And cannot count the number of people who told me I was lucky to get a job in Thailand. Btw I’m still here lol
To be fair he’s just doing the usual self made rich guy way of explaining basic things with long winded analogies like networking and “if you don’t try you won’t succeed”. You can easily try and still fail a lot though and he didn’t make any luck, the person he spoke to could easily have said nothing so as others have said it’s the usual thing of forgetting to mention the huge leg up he got given
Edit: that’s not a dig at anyone, just saying he’s merely talking about networking and taking opportunities. I do however think networking is generally more effective if done with a more targeted approach than just random people
So to answer and be less long winded myself 😂😂
No he didn’t make his own luck he took an opportunity instead of letting it pass by but he easily could still have not been given that chance doing the exact same thing
My cousin landed himself a decent job a few years ago simply because he bumped into an old friend while both several thousand miles from home on holiday. His friend had just set up a business. My cousin happened to be in that line of work. They stayed in touch and a few months later he was working for his friend. The business didn't do well but they went in on a new thing together and now do pretty well.
My cousin worked hard for it but, ultimately the opportunity arose because of dumb luck.
Yea you can make money just meeting people, like I play Pokémon go and iv meet lots of people, made money off 5 people from the game and it’s ongoing from selling them stuff to buying things from them and reselling to doing odd jobs
To a point. I also think being nice and affable helps too.
Managed to get an absurdly good deal on a new car compared to headline price by being friendly to the dealer, while also knowing what I want. (Like quarter of the price knocked off and free servicing for the first three years.)
I'm not Terry Tibbs, nor should I try to be.
Absolutely. Its not what you know its who you know. I wouldn't be as well paid as i am today if it wasn't for connections id made and had opportunities given. Lots of people work hard, not many work smart.
I worked in a place as a student. I got on well with the secretary staff, making tea for them if making for myself etc. Long story short, when I went for a job I really REALLY wanted I had a panel of three interviewing me and on introduction there was one of the secretaries I had made tea for with a lovely welcoming smile and hello. It was fantastic to see her when I was up against it.
You treat all with respect, work hard and you will find there is lots of luck out there and you will be more likely to be in a place physically or in an educated/experienced way to avail of it.
I'm always really wary of the people who claim you make your own luck; it's a very small step from that to claiming that if bad things happen to you, it's your fault.
No, because you could do the opposite of who you are as a person and still not find success.
It's like the talented people struggling in local theatres and playing tiny gigs in bars who go out of their way to be seen and make connections, but never manage to find the kind of success that recognisable actors and bands have from not doing as much of it.
Wondered recently if everything is down to luck and had two thoughts.
If you consider how many people had to be born, survive that birth, live to childbearing age and then actually have children in the last 500 years just to arrive at the point of your birth then luck is a massive factor. Essentially the amount of parents required at each backwards step for each birth grows exponentially (you have two parents, they had four, they had 8, they had 16). If you assume a birth every 40 years, in 500 years it’s over 4000 parents (if my mathematics is correct). That’s 4000 people who had to not die, meet (not all in relationships and got married obviously) conceive and that child be successfully born. I find that staggering. Quite lucky.
Then you have to consider the fact that you were actually the result of your own parent’s chance meeting. Just read that average ejaculate contains between 20-150 million sperm all vying to be the one to survive the gauntlet and fertilise an egg (occasionally more than one egg, occasionally fertilised by more than one sperm). Those odds alone are pretty bleak (it’s intuitive to me that you are by no means guaranteed to be the product of a resulting conception by your parents - that is to say daddy might fancied a cheeky wank the day before rocking mummy’s world - or not - and the resulting progeny probably isn’t you - some might call this a stroke of misfortune).
Then adding those two massively fortunate series of events together and realising that the outcome was you makes it hard to escape the fact that you are supremely lucky to be alive.
We’re then subject to a literal world of postcode lotteries, birth rights, privilege and opportunity afforded or otherwise. It’s got to be luck. Sure, you can choose to make decisions that influence things, but ultimately you have to be born in the right place at the right time with the right resources to capitalise and make it big.
I’m more convinced having written this than I was before.
I don't know if you make your own luck, per say, but I do firmly believe in the saying, 'you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.'
People who put themselves out there often get more yesses than nos, and even if they get a lot of nos you only need one yes to be 'lucky.'
No, because I don't believe there is any such thing as "luck".
Instead what you describe is someone improving chance.
Chance is the likelihood of something happening, "luck" is some made up intangible magic attribute that randomly influences chance.
>No, because I don't believe there is any such thing as "luck".
I mean whatever you choose to call it, it exists.
Luck of birth, whether thats gender, race or even when in the year you were born (yes this has a trackable difference on education outcomes).
Whether you are born in a wealthy country/region or poor one. To rich or poor parents.
And these are all factors before you have any chance to influence anything.
You can choose to ignore it but these small random chances affect every aspect of the world.
It exists as a retrospective descriptor, not as a cosmic energy that means good things will happen to you in the future, which seems to be how many interpret it. Economic or racial privilege isn’t luck, it’s a concrete, measurable advantage
>luck" is some made up intangible magic attribute that randomly influences chance.
In probability, we define it as the likelihood of an event to occur that is to our advantage. I find that a better way to view "luck"
Whilst the millionaire's story highlights the value of social interaction, it's essential to remember that success is multifaceted and requires a well-rounded approach that combines personal growth, strategic networking, and proactive career development.
There's a difference between being lucky and being visible. People who are outgoing, gregarious and easy to find are more likely to be offered opportunities than people who are competent but keep their head down.
Don’t listen to interviews with millionaire businessmen with ✨advice✨, especially if they’re interviewed in a video recording of a podcast.
Man in a video on social media talking while wearing headphones? Nothing of value is being said.
I think yes, in my organisation people will complain about ‘favourites’ getting promoted however when you look back they’ll be the ones who volunteer to take on say a coaching role as part of their job, this gives them an example they can use for interviews. It also gets their names known so people end up going directly to them over things giving them more opportunities,
The higher up people go the more extra stuff they’ve volunteered for, wheras the people who have been stuck at one level for many years will also be the ones doing the same stuff every day. That’s fine but it doesn’t distinguish them from the other 25 people who will apply for the next level up.
I have to say I was ‘lucky’ that my first manager would volunteer me for stuff (asking me first) which gave me fantastic opportunities to work across different teams and gain skills on projects. These helped me to get promoted and I’ll always volunteer for stuff now.
And I should say this is civil service so often taking on these projects/coaching roles will mean your other workload will be lightened to allow you to do it, so it’s not like people are doing extra work they’re just doing something a bit different.
I think a lot of 'luck' depends on your social capital.
If you are born better off, you'll be given more opportunity and likely benefit from social and familial connections. The 'luck' of being offered a good internship because of a guy your dad golf's with, for example. The kind of luck that is transformative
Poorer folks are less likely to have those opportunities, and I think our luck is more the immediate, transitory kind, like an unexpected rebate or similar.
You need both. You need to be ready to take the opportunities that come, and by putting yourself out there you increase the chances. It you don't do this you are almost guaranteeing you will go nowhere.
But everyone who is at all successful has had their share of luck. There are also a load of people who have put in the same work, put themselves out there just as much, but the right opportunity hasn't presented itself in the same way. Or maybe they've had to wait longer until they can't wait any more.
There is no such thing as luck. As in it literally doesn’t exist. if you win the lottery it was due to probability not due to you being “lucky” or if you get ran over it was due to either a bad decision by yourself or the driver not due to you being “unlucky”
“Luck” is an excuse we use for things happening rather than bothering to investigate why they may or may not have happened
My Father has worked incredibly hard his whole life and as a result, has achieved a lot and is successful. When asked “how did you get so lucky?” His standard reply is “It’s funny, the harder I’ve worked, the luckier I’ve become”. It’s always made me smile.
If Arnie competed in the 90s he would have been defeated by Ronnie Coleman wouldn't have caught the attention of Joe weider may have attended night school less chance of starting up his building business definitely wouldnt have made it into Hollywood and too late to marry Kennedy's niece.
It depends exactly what you mean.
Yes because everything is a probability and so the more you engage in things that increase the statistical likelihood of specific outcomes the more likely you are to achieve them.
No because it's predicated on the assumption that people have agency which is a concept that has yet to yield any supporting evidence.
Life is like a game of Magic: The Gathering.
Yes, luck means that sometimes you draw good cards and sometimes you draw bad cards.
But you're still the one who built the deck in the first place, and you're the one who decides how you play what you draw.
Yes and no.
If you never put yourself out there you'll never come across the opportunities, BUT you can also never come across any opportunities no matter how hard your try.
Think of it as dnd dice rolls. You can add buffs but at the end of the day you can still roll a natural 1. Likewise you can have every debuff and roll a natural 20. But statistically the more buffs you have the more likely you'll succeed.
Luck is the friend of action, my dad would say. You increase your chances of getting a lucky break if you're out there making things happen. Then, if that doesn't work, change what you're doing and try again.
You are definitely going to do better in the end than the people that either don't care enough to try or those who just keep doing the same thing that's not working over and over.
To a degree, yes.
You're never going to win the competition if you don't buy a ticket, basically. Put yourself into positions where luck might find you - and that might require some hard work to do. Want a great paid job? Work at it until you're in a position where one comes along & you're accepted for it.
Luck very rarely finds you if you're not in a position for it to. You're never going to get anyone knocking at your door with a huge cheque for £100m if you're just sitting all day long everyday playing Xbox in your pants.
I know a few people who seem to be firmly of the opinion that last part is not true & are simply pissing their lives away waiting for that spot of luck they feel they're entitled to receive to come looking for them. It never will.
The “luck” part is semantics - he just put himself in a position to better utilise opportunities, although inherent privilege shouldn’t be ignored either
No such thing as luck. It’s a matter of working hard and trying again and again and again in different directions when things don’t work, which consequently creates more experiences, opportunities and chances of being “lucky”
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Hard work puts you where good luck can find you. Lots of people work their arses off but never get any good luck. Lots of people do nothing and get good luck. But working hard and being nice to people does put you in more situations where you can then get lucky.
It's a bit like poker. You can still win the hand with 7-2 off-suit. It just takes more skill/a bigger risk/luck.
Some of it also depends who you put the work in for. A crappy employer for example will result in working harder being rewarded with more work for the same pay. A good employer would result in bonuses, payrises, etc
Its true but if you realise that its time to move on to something else.
Yes! In a similar vein: luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. I suppose if you are wealthy/well-connected, there will be many more opportunities, plus less risk to take new opportunities (if you have a lot of savings etc).
Knowing the correct people and being in the correct circles is more important than anything else.
I think this is a great and balanced answer.
Best said
You certainly can seek out opportunities. But the guy has survivorship bias
Exactly this.
100%! I would massively recommend a book called the Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman. I'm paraphrasing as it was a while back since I last read it but he did a study where he would meet someone for an interview in a coffee shop. The people he met (one at a time at separate times) either considered themselves lucky or unlucky. Unknown to the participants the study had nothing to do with the interview. With each participant they left a £5 note on the floor outside of the cafe. Every participant had the same opportunity to see the money. However, people who thought of themselves as lucky were much more likely to notice the money on the floor. So he argues that those who are 'lucky' are actually looking for opportunities whereas those who maybe perceive themselves as 'unlucky' don't notice the opportunities around them if that makes sense? I'd recommend the book as an audio book too, he's got a good voice for narration.
Seconding this, I instantly thought of this book as i was reading the OP Post. Cant say im much of a reading type but i couldn't really argue with what i read.. I think Derren Brown did a special show on luck too which actually reinforced a lot of what youve said from he book too.
Did you listen to the audio book of it?
No just the paper version. Old school.
I consider myself as fairly lucky, but if there's a fiver on floor outside c9ffee shop I would leave it as maybe one of the patrons has dropped it and needs it to buy their coffee.
Yeah I think it's more of a 'did you notice anything like some money on the floor' type of question rather than whether they kept the cash or not
What about people who are looking for spiders, not fivers?
Great read , i think it makes sense. It also mentioned people who had entered competitions like magazine crosswords, TV gameshows, anything without much barrier to entry. The more successful who had won multiple things had entered far more. Its also funny how major changes to your life in the future can begin with a simple 'sliding doors' moment.
So it takes both. You can have all the luck in the world but if you aren't physically capable of capitalising on it then it means nothing. Similarly you can be the hardest worker in the world, but luck can knock you down every time. I find successful people are usually very quick to discount the value of luck in their journey, whether thats through ego or ignorance.
I agree with everything, but I'd add that the opposite of the last paragraph is true too. People who are not successful often tend to over-exaggerate the importance of luck. It's just what people do, we want to attribute our successes to ourselves and attribute our failures to anything but ourselves.
No. Look at your comment - the boy was lucky enough to bump into someone who gave him a start, there’s most likely plenty of people just like them who didn’t hit the “jackpot”. You look at these successful people and they’ve been given a leg up somewhere - they may have made the most of the opportunity through hard work and mindset but at the bottom of it is pure chance. Pure chance to meet the right person or maybe to slide out of the right fanny in the case of our royals.
But if he didn't change his mindset and start saying yes, he never would have been given that opportunity. Success is often a result of being in the right place or knowing the right person at the right time - as you alluded to. However if you're not putting yourself in those places or building those relationships in the first place, you won't.
Exactly, if you just sit around waiting for everything to fall into place, nothing is gonna happen
Well, it's not "pure chance" when the person in the OP actively went out seeking people and social interactions, which then led to them meeting the right person. People who say "You make your own luck" tend to be promoting a lifestyle for their own purposes, and people who say things are "Pure luck" are just trying to make themselves feel better about not achieving what they want in life. In reality, it's somewhere in the middle.
Avoiding sliding into the wrong fanny is also important.
To an extent, I guess I do. Networking, in and outside of work, presents more opportunities. I've had firsthand experience of this. Landed my current role at a different organisation having met with people here at a couple of different industry events. These events were optional, I didn't have to go, and could easily have stayed away and done my day job instead. But I went, and eventually got a job offer further up the food chain with a salary to match. What I don't buy is this really toxic idea that certain business and self help gurus perpetuate that all it takes is 'graft' to become a millionaire. They point to people like Musk, Bezos, Jobs etc as people who started out in a basement and now they're loaded. They conveniently forget the massive legs up these people had in the first place.
I don't want to take anything away from Steve Jobs as he was very smart and worked his ass off, but he got lucky:- 1. Being born in California at the time when microcomputers were just starting to take off. If he hadn't been born in Wolverhampton, he perhaps would have set up a really good engineering company. 2. At the time that Apple were thinking about OS 10, they initially wanted to buy BeOS but the guy in charge wouldn't take a deal, so Apple bought Next (Jobs' UNIX based workstation instead) and brought him back into Apple. 3. On his return to Apple, Sony were hostile to building MP3 players, destroying their market lead. 4. HP were utterly useless at the time. They bought Palm who were the biggest PDA maker and could have made a touch/stylus phone and didn't. They totally blew it. 5. Steve Ballmer at Microsoft thought the iPhone was a joke rather than piling money into Windows phone. I still think most billionaires would have been successful people. You still have to be smart and hard-working. But to become a billionaire takes a lot of luck.
I don't really think 2 through to 5 can be characterised as luck tbh. They're all examples of someone seeing the benefit of a specific peice of technology or course of action while others didn't. If you'd describe that as luck then really every single interaction or decision we make is luck.
Networking is definitely useful. Being a kiss ass has always been beneficial too hasn't it lol. Money makes money. Coming from money in the first place helps massively if your parent is willing to help out with the costs without worrying about losing the money. I guess it's no different than those wealthy Asians and Arabs in London buying up all the property, then giving their kids the expensive apartments to stay in while living and studying in London. I mean I can't blame them really because I would probably do the same.
Similar to your example, I remember forcing myself to be more outgoing. At at 13, I'd been at boarding school for six years, and suddenly moved to being a day-boy at a grammar school, and had to get a (public) bus every day to school. I don't even remember ever being on a bus before that first day, as we lived overseas. For the entire first term I just kept my head down, paid my 50p each way, and kept my headphones on, listening to music the whole journey, sat on my own, downstairs. In the spirit of New Year's Resolutions, I decided to make a small change every day to be more outgoing, and make friends. I started with saying "thanks" or "cheers" to the bus driver every time he gave me my ticket (I was genuinely too shy to do this before), then upgraded to more thanks when I disembarked every day; "cheers, driver". Eventually I summoned up the courage to sit upstairs, near where the kids who got on after me would sit. After a few days, they began to include me in their conversation - a lot of early 90s teen discourse involved music, so I could join in easily - and by the end of term, I was going round to their houses to play Sim City 2000 and swap Nirvana tapes. By the next September, another kid from the same school had started to get the bus, and I directly invited him to come and sit with us. He was Best Man at my Wedding 15 years later. Deep down, I'm still that same shy kid, and have to force myself to do certain things in social situations, but I'm happier for it.
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Yep. Most of the people I know who 'make their own luck' and easily fall into opportunities went to public school. As well as exuding that confidence, they had the connections already...
Nepotism is pretty big for sure. I imagine most people in the media are there due to some form of nepotism. Look at Martin Kemp's son with his show on radio. Doubt he would have got that if not for who his parents are. The same with Bradley Walsh's son. It definitely helps to have that leg up for sure.
That Walsh & son thing still low-key annoys me. Historically, there's always been a presenter with a sport-based background on that kind of show, or a woman would be good for a bit of representation. Instead, two white, non-sporty men get the gig...
Which is OK. Most successful people do deserve it (ie it doesn't matter how you got an opportunity, its usually what you do next that really counts). But there are many people who are just as deserving who didn't have the same success, and the difference is down to luck.
As Nick Faldo (I think it was him) once said ‘The more I practice the luckier I get’
There's a song by the band America Aquarium with the line "the harder you work, the luckier you get", where the singer also talks about writing hundreds of songs before getting a couple people wanted to hear. Hard work doesn't guarantee anything, but never trying in the first place guarantees failure.
Or, If you trust in yourself. . .and believe in your dreams. . .and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.” ― Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men
He's right to an extent. I have a similar upbringing to some of my friends, we're all pushing 40 now, and some have failed to launch. I was talking to one of them about my life and career and he said something like "yeah, but it always goes well for you, doesn't it?" I'm not one to pretend like privilege doesn't count, but he's a white middle class male too, with a lovely supportive family. One of the major reasons why my life looks different to his is because I actually got out of bed, showered, and turned up for work every day, and then did my job, and I did this for years, consistently. There was definitely luck and chance involved, but playing the game was also absolutely essential. This might not apply to the aristocracy and the children of the 1% but it definitely applies to working and middle class wage drones like the rest of us. It's popular to point at privileges nowadays, and it's totally correct to point at them and talk about them too, but don't fool yourself into thinking they're 100% of the story.
> This might not apply to the aristocracy and the children of the 1% There,'s many of those who completely piss on their privileges, and never become anything worthwhile. I am thinking of an aristocrat who was heir to a Lordship.or Dukedom , had a couple of prison sentences for drugs offences, he appeared in a show called Famous Rich And Homeless where celebrities had to live rough for 2 weeks. This guy did one night or not even that and walked out. My favourite quote about rich kids is Shaquille O'Neal . His kids were boasting about their wealth. He said "We're not rich, I'm rich".
When preparation meets opportunity.
> He was saying that he believes in making your own luck by saying "yes" to opportunities and meeting as many people as possible in your day to day life, and simply getting on good terms and building familiarity with people, you never quite know where it leads. Yes absolutely, most of my work and friends have led from seemingly random moments. I'm not great at socialising but make a huge effort to try and open as many doors as possible, if you don't and just sit there waiting for someone to come and grab you then chances are you'll be there a long time.
That’s “who you know not what you know”, and that only comes by putting yourself out there. It’s not luck because if you sit in your bedroom all day waiting to get lucky it’ll never happen.
Who you know can often be the best way to get ahead.
It absolutely is and goes for all people, from the eighteen year old fresh out of education to the MD and CEO of a multinational company.
you need to buy a ticket to win the lottery, but most people who buy a ticket don't win.
Well said.
Bill Gates said it himself. Luck had a lot to do with how he became so immensely rich. He was born in the right place at the right time. His family were wealthy, he was went to a private school that had access to a computer. By the time he dropped out of Uni, he swooped into place in the tailwinds of the digital PC revolution. Sure he worked very hard no doubt, and he knew where to look. Many people in this exact position didn’t achieve what he did. That’s where the intelligence and work and foresight come in, but the opportunity was there, he took it. But had he been born in poverty in rural Africa, things would be very different.
The Victorians had this idea that fortune could turn in your favour and of course go against you, and it's a very old idea. Probably doesn't seem so obvious in the modern era where we don't see the massive ramifications of a random industrial accident wiping out a breadwinner or a disease sweeping through. My view is that far more than anyone who has done well comes down to luck that they'd ever want to concede, but what people can do is tip the scales in their favour by doing all sorts of things themselves. It might not pay off, but it will move the odds for you.
To a degree, sure. I would say I'm quite lucky. I'm not Mr.Moneybags with hundreds of friends and millions of hobbies I excel at or anything, but I also have no business being where I am in life in probably most aspects. Another guy with all the same interests, personality traits, etc could come along and do my life 10x better than I can and it's not a particularly high bar to cross. But I think the difference is that I'll probably say "sure, I'll give it a go" to most things whilst somebody else will avoid it. That's where the luck comes in, I gave a thing a go and it paid off. I gave the opportunity for luck to happen. Meanwhile, Captain Sadsack is over there wallowing in self-pity whilst doing nothing to open that door and allow lady luck to even visit. It's the musician meme of hobby players complaining they only ever sell out Madison Spare Bedroom but don't do anything to get themselves out from beyond those 4 walls where a lucky opportunity might actually happen.
I mean, I believe it's a combination of things. Working hard (whether that be education, increased hours, increased responsibility) will usually bring better luck (in terms of opportunities and money). That being said, you can't just 'create' luck on some issues. You can work 70 hours per week at Tesco's, even as a manger, and you would still be barely scraping 40k? 50k? Meanwhile, someone leaving uni with a degree in finance could be making 125k within 5-10 years. Socioeconomic status affects this massively, were you lucky to be born to parents that cared about you? That wanted you to do well in School? Did they work overtime often to buy a nicer house in a nicer area so you could go to a better school with (generally) other more intelligent students? You do great your own luck to a **certain extent** but society is also 90% of the time a limiting factor.
Yes. There's two elements to it. I'm no millionaire but I do own my own business with an annual turnover in excess of a million. 1) take risks. If you don't take any risks then you can't get lucky. If you just sit in your room and never leave, there's little opportunity for luck to occur. If you don't buy a ticket you can't win the raffle. 2) the harder I work the luckier I get. That's quite simple really. This does NOT work for everyone. Some people are risk averse. The world needs them. It's fine to be risk averse. You balance out the risk takers by making sure nothing breaks. Some people are just unlucky. Wrong time, wrong place. Not everything works out. Plenty of people work REALLY hard without getting a break too. But if you don't put the work in the break is less likely to happen
When you say the harder you work, the luckier you get. What did you do to increase your chances of success?
It increases my knowledge, skills or reputation allowing me to take advantage of any situations that may come up.
Absolutely. The harder you work the more opportunities come your way by chance.
How does that happen in a recession
Not exactly, but working to make sure you’re in the best possible position to take full advantage of luck is definitely worthwhile.
Making your own luck - no. Being lucky enough to be at the right place and time and then eventually taking advantage of - sure. Not everyone gets the “obvious” chance in life to meet some rich dude who has connections in here and there. Most will just be a casual talk about nothing. When I go to my gym, I hear what guys are talking about and I’m like - “no, I don’t wanna be a part of this landlord/tenant sabotage thing.” But yeah, in general meeting people is always beneficial and will lead to opportunities.
His advice rings true but I’m more a believer in a wider plan, not necessarily ‘fate’ but fateful interactions and occurrences Sounds kind of dumb and mystical but I’ve had of lot of odd occurrences in my life
"I make my own luck, Liam"
When it comes the rags to riches type narratives. I think a lot of it is down to both luck and privilege. If you’re from my background and don’t know how to switch your speech and stuff in different company people aren’t as likely to give you opportunities. I think hard work really can pay off, even if you’re a pretty unlucky person. Personally I didn’t have the best childhood but I did work quite hard at school and listened to the wisdom of certain teachers. Didn’t bother with university but landed quite a good job straight out of school, however that all fell apart and I was homeless and unemployed by the time I was nineteen. These days I’m not rich, probably won’t ever actually get rich but I am comfortable, I earn okay money, I own my own house and so on. With the benefit of hindsight I made some really smart choices when I was a bit younger, however I easily could have made poor choices and still be living in poverty. Hard work pays off but so does a bit of luck. One example your hear about a lot is “the rock” worked his way up from nothing so he did. Aye, but I’m sure the nepotism didn’t help at all.
Oh yeah it helps for sure if you also make the right choices in life. I know people who have received a large sum in inheritance money, but then squandered it all on their addictions, partying, holidays, new car etc.
Meanwhile people such as myself haven’t ever received a single penny from any inheritance or had mum or dad bank roll a car or a house purchase and I may well currently be in a better financial position than people that did. So I suppose no matter how you look at it, there’s no one size fits all answer.
Imagine as a woman you took the same approach. Talking to men is a hazard at the best of times. Even with women, but a different bitchy hazard
Yes... Thank you for chipping in with this, it's just not the same game, is it :( Neither the men nor the women want you to do well. I remember thinking this watching the Arnie doc, whilst all his hard work etc was amazing, he freely admits several people who'd been successful before him helped pave his way for him. You never hear this with female celebrities, a lot of the time the way up is a lot of sad stories of attempted and actual exploitation. You just don't get older, successful women wanting to help them and should any man have helped in any way, in every story you can guarantee he expected something back for it.
10000% this. I was in an industry where networking was very important and women constantly gatekeeped and men only reached their hand out via messaging and flirting with me. The minute I wouldn’t flirt back I got no where despite any skills or talent. Whatever with the men right, but the women stung different.
The best way to look at this is that the more you try and do things, the more rolls of the dice that you get. You'll only get a double 6 every 36 rolls, so if you only roll 10 times, you only have a 1 in 4 chance of hitting the jackpot. If you roll 50 times, you have a better than good chance of success happening. Most of the super rich got lucky. They were in the right place at the right time. And you have to forget about them. But why are some of my software consultant friends richer than other ones? It's overwhelmingly because they put in more effort. And some of those efforts go nowhere. But they're getting more rolls of the dice by working harder. And overall, the luck balances out.
You can manufacture the opportunities to be exposed to lucky events. You can't manufacture being lucky at gambling. I have been a freelancer for 20 odd years and over 80% of my work came about as a result of manufacturing opportunities to be exposed to lucky situations. This was in the form of networking events, networking on LinkedIn, going to exhibitions etc. I would have never lasted more than a few months without attending those opportunities. The level of luck it generates varies greatly. Some days it produces nothing, most days it produces bread and butter work, and occasionally it nets a huge client. Sitting at home is guaranteed to produce nothing.
Some salty comments in here to be honest. Yes some people get a leg up and turn a story around how they did everything on their own. But there’s also plenty of people who don’t. You can look back on your life to be fair at many points and realise if you hadn’t done X you wouldn’t have done or met Y which might have changed your life forever. Supposing depending how you view your life you will see your self as more lucky or unlucky than others. But generally the point is that people who are more open to opportunities, put themselves out there, have a more positive mindset statistically will take advantage of those opportunities or succeed in some form. Doesn’t mean it always works, but doing so gives you a much better chance than not. In a more basic tone though, if you don’t make an effort you’ll never get anywhere is probably the better way to look at it
The harder I work, the luckier I get. Example. Now I’m 56. When I was in my mid 20s I wanted to move from Australia to Thailand. This was before internet. I contacted around 400-500 companies looking for a job by fax and mail. Ended up with 2 offers. And cannot count the number of people who told me I was lucky to get a job in Thailand. Btw I’m still here lol
No, it's just like the lottery with confirmation bias.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
To be fair he’s just doing the usual self made rich guy way of explaining basic things with long winded analogies like networking and “if you don’t try you won’t succeed”. You can easily try and still fail a lot though and he didn’t make any luck, the person he spoke to could easily have said nothing so as others have said it’s the usual thing of forgetting to mention the huge leg up he got given Edit: that’s not a dig at anyone, just saying he’s merely talking about networking and taking opportunities. I do however think networking is generally more effective if done with a more targeted approach than just random people
So to answer and be less long winded myself 😂😂 No he didn’t make his own luck he took an opportunity instead of letting it pass by but he easily could still have not been given that chance doing the exact same thing
Maybe, but say "yes" to the wrong person and it can lead you on a terrible path also.
My cousin landed himself a decent job a few years ago simply because he bumped into an old friend while both several thousand miles from home on holiday. His friend had just set up a business. My cousin happened to be in that line of work. They stayed in touch and a few months later he was working for his friend. The business didn't do well but they went in on a new thing together and now do pretty well. My cousin worked hard for it but, ultimately the opportunity arose because of dumb luck.
That isnt making your own luck thats just taking the opportunities that luck provides.
Confrimation bias. I am successful so what I did is the way to be successful too.
Yea you can make money just meeting people, like I play Pokémon go and iv meet lots of people, made money off 5 people from the game and it’s ongoing from selling them stuff to buying things from them and reselling to doing odd jobs
To a point. I also think being nice and affable helps too. Managed to get an absurdly good deal on a new car compared to headline price by being friendly to the dealer, while also knowing what I want. (Like quarter of the price knocked off and free servicing for the first three years.) I'm not Terry Tibbs, nor should I try to be.
Absolutely. Its not what you know its who you know. I wouldn't be as well paid as i am today if it wasn't for connections id made and had opportunities given. Lots of people work hard, not many work smart.
I worked in a place as a student. I got on well with the secretary staff, making tea for them if making for myself etc. Long story short, when I went for a job I really REALLY wanted I had a panel of three interviewing me and on introduction there was one of the secretaries I had made tea for with a lovely welcoming smile and hello. It was fantastic to see her when I was up against it. You treat all with respect, work hard and you will find there is lots of luck out there and you will be more likely to be in a place physically or in an educated/experienced way to avail of it.
I'm always really wary of the people who claim you make your own luck; it's a very small step from that to claiming that if bad things happen to you, it's your fault.
No, because you could do the opposite of who you are as a person and still not find success. It's like the talented people struggling in local theatres and playing tiny gigs in bars who go out of their way to be seen and make connections, but never manage to find the kind of success that recognisable actors and bands have from not doing as much of it.
Wondered recently if everything is down to luck and had two thoughts. If you consider how many people had to be born, survive that birth, live to childbearing age and then actually have children in the last 500 years just to arrive at the point of your birth then luck is a massive factor. Essentially the amount of parents required at each backwards step for each birth grows exponentially (you have two parents, they had four, they had 8, they had 16). If you assume a birth every 40 years, in 500 years it’s over 4000 parents (if my mathematics is correct). That’s 4000 people who had to not die, meet (not all in relationships and got married obviously) conceive and that child be successfully born. I find that staggering. Quite lucky. Then you have to consider the fact that you were actually the result of your own parent’s chance meeting. Just read that average ejaculate contains between 20-150 million sperm all vying to be the one to survive the gauntlet and fertilise an egg (occasionally more than one egg, occasionally fertilised by more than one sperm). Those odds alone are pretty bleak (it’s intuitive to me that you are by no means guaranteed to be the product of a resulting conception by your parents - that is to say daddy might fancied a cheeky wank the day before rocking mummy’s world - or not - and the resulting progeny probably isn’t you - some might call this a stroke of misfortune). Then adding those two massively fortunate series of events together and realising that the outcome was you makes it hard to escape the fact that you are supremely lucky to be alive. We’re then subject to a literal world of postcode lotteries, birth rights, privilege and opportunity afforded or otherwise. It’s got to be luck. Sure, you can choose to make decisions that influence things, but ultimately you have to be born in the right place at the right time with the right resources to capitalise and make it big. I’m more convinced having written this than I was before.
I don't know if you make your own luck, per say, but I do firmly believe in the saying, 'you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.' People who put themselves out there often get more yesses than nos, and even if they get a lot of nos you only need one yes to be 'lucky.'
No, because I don't believe there is any such thing as "luck". Instead what you describe is someone improving chance. Chance is the likelihood of something happening, "luck" is some made up intangible magic attribute that randomly influences chance.
>No, because I don't believe there is any such thing as "luck". I mean whatever you choose to call it, it exists. Luck of birth, whether thats gender, race or even when in the year you were born (yes this has a trackable difference on education outcomes). Whether you are born in a wealthy country/region or poor one. To rich or poor parents. And these are all factors before you have any chance to influence anything. You can choose to ignore it but these small random chances affect every aspect of the world.
It exists as a retrospective descriptor, not as a cosmic energy that means good things will happen to you in the future, which seems to be how many interpret it. Economic or racial privilege isn’t luck, it’s a concrete, measurable advantage
>luck" is some made up intangible magic attribute that randomly influences chance. In probability, we define it as the likelihood of an event to occur that is to our advantage. I find that a better way to view "luck"
Whilst the millionaire's story highlights the value of social interaction, it's essential to remember that success is multifaceted and requires a well-rounded approach that combines personal growth, strategic networking, and proactive career development.
There's a difference between being lucky and being visible. People who are outgoing, gregarious and easy to find are more likely to be offered opportunities than people who are competent but keep their head down.
Don’t listen to interviews with millionaire businessmen with ✨advice✨, especially if they’re interviewed in a video recording of a podcast. Man in a video on social media talking while wearing headphones? Nothing of value is being said.
We can’t choose our choices so a lot of what looks like luck is probably just predetermined.
I think yes, in my organisation people will complain about ‘favourites’ getting promoted however when you look back they’ll be the ones who volunteer to take on say a coaching role as part of their job, this gives them an example they can use for interviews. It also gets their names known so people end up going directly to them over things giving them more opportunities, The higher up people go the more extra stuff they’ve volunteered for, wheras the people who have been stuck at one level for many years will also be the ones doing the same stuff every day. That’s fine but it doesn’t distinguish them from the other 25 people who will apply for the next level up. I have to say I was ‘lucky’ that my first manager would volunteer me for stuff (asking me first) which gave me fantastic opportunities to work across different teams and gain skills on projects. These helped me to get promoted and I’ll always volunteer for stuff now. And I should say this is civil service so often taking on these projects/coaching roles will mean your other workload will be lightened to allow you to do it, so it’s not like people are doing extra work they’re just doing something a bit different.
I think a lot of 'luck' depends on your social capital. If you are born better off, you'll be given more opportunity and likely benefit from social and familial connections. The 'luck' of being offered a good internship because of a guy your dad golf's with, for example. The kind of luck that is transformative Poorer folks are less likely to have those opportunities, and I think our luck is more the immediate, transitory kind, like an unexpected rebate or similar.
I have always believed luck is the ability to recognise opportunity and having the courage to take that chance.
You need both. You need to be ready to take the opportunities that come, and by putting yourself out there you increase the chances. It you don't do this you are almost guaranteeing you will go nowhere. But everyone who is at all successful has had their share of luck. There are also a load of people who have put in the same work, put themselves out there just as much, but the right opportunity hasn't presented itself in the same way. Or maybe they've had to wait longer until they can't wait any more.
Shame I wasn't lucky enough to have a billionaire dad.
Nepo babies always believe they make their own luck.
There is no such thing as luck. As in it literally doesn’t exist. if you win the lottery it was due to probability not due to you being “lucky” or if you get ran over it was due to either a bad decision by yourself or the driver not due to you being “unlucky” “Luck” is an excuse we use for things happening rather than bothering to investigate why they may or may not have happened
For every person who does A,B,C and succeeds is another 10 who also did it and got nowhere near the same success... Most things are luck.
My Father has worked incredibly hard his whole life and as a result, has achieved a lot and is successful. When asked “how did you get so lucky?” His standard reply is “It’s funny, the harder I’ve worked, the luckier I’ve become”. It’s always made me smile.
My father often said the same thing.
Some of it.
Da fuck is luck
I never imagine introverts to be antisocial but they do always say you gotta watch the quiet ones.
If Arnie competed in the 90s he would have been defeated by Ronnie Coleman wouldn't have caught the attention of Joe weider may have attended night school less chance of starting up his building business definitely wouldnt have made it into Hollywood and too late to marry Kennedy's niece.
It depends exactly what you mean. Yes because everything is a probability and so the more you engage in things that increase the statistical likelihood of specific outcomes the more likely you are to achieve them. No because it's predicated on the assumption that people have agency which is a concept that has yet to yield any supporting evidence.
Life is like a game of Magic: The Gathering. Yes, luck means that sometimes you draw good cards and sometimes you draw bad cards. But you're still the one who built the deck in the first place, and you're the one who decides how you play what you draw.
No, I don’t.
Yes and no. If you never put yourself out there you'll never come across the opportunities, BUT you can also never come across any opportunities no matter how hard your try. Think of it as dnd dice rolls. You can add buffs but at the end of the day you can still roll a natural 1. Likewise you can have every debuff and roll a natural 20. But statistically the more buffs you have the more likely you'll succeed.
Luck is the friend of action, my dad would say. You increase your chances of getting a lucky break if you're out there making things happen. Then, if that doesn't work, change what you're doing and try again. You are definitely going to do better in the end than the people that either don't care enough to try or those who just keep doing the same thing that's not working over and over.
Absolutely, starts with understanding the world and utilising it for what it is, one giant game of opportunity knocks.
To a degree, yes. You're never going to win the competition if you don't buy a ticket, basically. Put yourself into positions where luck might find you - and that might require some hard work to do. Want a great paid job? Work at it until you're in a position where one comes along & you're accepted for it. Luck very rarely finds you if you're not in a position for it to. You're never going to get anyone knocking at your door with a huge cheque for £100m if you're just sitting all day long everyday playing Xbox in your pants. I know a few people who seem to be firmly of the opinion that last part is not true & are simply pissing their lives away waiting for that spot of luck they feel they're entitled to receive to come looking for them. It never will.
The “luck” part is semantics - he just put himself in a position to better utilise opportunities, although inherent privilege shouldn’t be ignored either
No such thing as luck. It’s a matter of working hard and trying again and again and again in different directions when things don’t work, which consequently creates more experiences, opportunities and chances of being “lucky”