Luck is a tricky thing and something I think we are quick to attribute some of our successes to it when actually they came about from our hard work and dedication. Certainly there is luck – random good things that come our way for no reason, but more often than not, I think our successes have more to do with us than they do luck.
Earned Success
I think that many of us spend days, months, and even years positioning ourselves for success. University is a great example of that. By getting our degrees we are positioning ourselves to get find success with great job opportunities. And great job opportunities build our experience and skills and lead to even greater job opportunities.
Positioning ourselves for success doesn’t have to be long-term though. Sometimes it simply comes down to making sure we are in the right place at the right time. Some may say this is luck but we choose to be where we are because we identified that an opportunity for success may present itself. Other times, it may be about getting a good grade because you studied hard for a test. Or receiving accolades on a presentation from a professor because you practiced extensively for it. These are not “lucky moments” but the product of positioning ourselves for these successes.
Luck
Luck surely has its place in our lives too though. There are times where we happen to guess the right number of jelly beans in a jar and win a prize. Unless you are a mathematical genius, this is likely the product of luck.
The problem with luck is that too often and quickly we attribute our success to luck. We are quick to discard the hard work we put into something and allocate the success to luck. Why is this? Is it a confidence thing? Is it because maybe the task seemed too easy or the “win” too big for the effort we put into the task?
Right-Sizing Our Successes
If anything, I think that we need to right-size our successes a bit more. While luck does play a factor in some of our “wins,” our hard work is so often the real contributing factor to our success. Lets not shy away from that. Rather let’s take joy and celebrate in the moment. And learn from the success story so that we can create many more.
All that said, luck is still a great thing when it happens to us so let’s also not discard it too quickly. If it happens, let’s relish it for all it’s worth too. For it too has its great moments!
What is your Experience with Luck?
How does it play into your view of your successes? Do you feel you fairly allocate your successes to your hard work? Or do you tend to side on the favor of luck or your efforts?
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Joseph Meyer
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I’m definitely someone who thinks of their success as luck. Overall I wouldn’t consider myself a particularly lucky person, but whenever I had success (particularly in my blog or career) I’ll put it down to being lucky rather than acknowledging the fact that I worked hard! It’s something that I should really work on. Great post! x
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
Definitely Faye – you wouldn’t have so many successes if you weren’t truly talented!
I definitely see my successes more as products of hard work. Sometimes you get lucky, but mostly it’s all down to effort you put in.
Good for you Jen – I think that’s how it should be! We work too hard to toss away the products of our talents to luck!
This is a great post. I tend to agree with you about everything you mention. In general, I connect my success to hard work because I know how hard I have worked for it. But there are times that I have felt I was lucky. I think in my brain I associate luck with something I can’t control, whereas success with something that is up to me.
Thank you for sharing.
Darina from daramiblog
Thank you for sharing your insights Darina!! Congratulations on your successes 🙂
I believe in luck in a smaller sense but I think the majority of our lives and decisions is up to us! But a little lottery win, that’s definitely luck! (Although it WAS our choice to put the money on the lottery in the first place)
I completely agree Jenny on both accounts!! Thanks for sharing!
I definitely believe in luck. I’ve lived through some strange circumstances where events played out well beyond my control, both good and bad. I feel like luck and coincidence are interchangeable, and it’s out of our control but keeps life interesting.
It definitely keeps life interesting. I agree that there is an interplay between the two.
Never depend on luck. It’s purely one’s ability. Believing in self is more important.
Nice write-up!
I agree – if you depend on yourself you are much more likely to be guaranteed results.
Well said! We often think that luck plays the major factor for our success. I think we have to change our thinking on all things in life right now!
I agree – too often we discredit our hard work! We need to change that!
Good luck exists
But I don’t believe in it because I’ve never been lucky in my life
All there is to it is that I frame goals and work to make them succeed
Frankly, I do not meet luck, and he changes his path in the opposite direction
I’m sorry to hear that luck has not come your way – perhaps though it’s all your hard work that is overriding any luck and you are creating all your own successes. THere’s a lot to be said for that.
I love your perspective. Preparation and hard work is the key!
Thank you Andrea!!
I agree with you Lisa I think a a majority of our successes and progressions is mainly due to hard work and dedication off course sometimes we have little bits of luck here and there but I think the determining factor to any success is hard work!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your comment Rodha!
I love the idea of celebrating in the moment, that’s something I try to do as much as possible. Great post!
Anika | chaptersofmay.com
Thank you Anika for the compliment and for stopping by!
Luck is important but also our endevour. It’s double win-win.
Excellent post..
Yes – yes!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Such a great post! I definitely see my successes as part of my hard work. I don’t consider them luck because I know I worked really hard to achieve them!
Good for you Charity!! You’ve got this nailed!
I don’t believe in luck, but I believe in being at the right place in the right moment.
“Luck” gives you this passive position, it happens to you. While being in the right context means you actually did something, you were there. It doesn’t happen all the time, matching both the time and the place ( to me almost never haha) but I think that this mindset encourages you to work towards building your context, choosing it, changing it..
Great insights busyself! 🙂