Role of luck in life success

[omni550]

"The results of this elucidating simulation, which dovetail with a growing number of studies based on real-world data, strongly suggest that luck and opportunity play an underappreciated role in determining the final level of individual success. As the researchers point out, since rewards and resources are usually given to those who are already highly rewarded, this often causes a lack of opportunities for those who are most talented (i.e., have the greatest potential to actually benefit from the resources), and it doesn't take into account the important role of luck, which can emerge spontaneously throughout the creative process. "

Article also gets into effective funding strategies.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/...ter-than-we-realized?utm_source=pocket-newtab

omni

 

[Sunset]

Everyone knows being lucky is a SuperPower !!

I realized long ago, that randomness, luck, played a role in my success. So I made sure to increase the opportunities for it to happen. Which is fancy words for saying, apply,apply,apply,apply,.....

Someday the better people will be sick/late/in hospital/arrested/die/ when I apply

 

[aja8888]

Everyone knows being lucky is a SuperPower !!

I realized long ago, that randomness, luck, played a role in my success. So I made sure to increase the opportunities for it to happen. Which is fancy words for saying, apply,apply,apply,apply,.....

Someday the better people will be sick/late/in hospital/arrested/die/ when I apply

Yep, just look at my avatar...

 

[OldShooter]

Well, I was born in America (1:20), white (1:3?), male (1:2), into a doctor's family that appreciated education and could support my BA (1:5?). So basically before I had pooped in a diaper I had won the lottery. Buffett refers to this as "the ovarian lottery."

 

[catii]

Luck only happens to those who are prepared to take advantage of it!

 

[swakyaby]

Luck only happens to those who are prepared to take advantage of it!

+1

Luck favors the prepared mind.

 

[Midpack]

Luck only happens to those who are prepared to take advantage of it!

Luck and preparation can coincide, but they can occur independently as well. Some people don’t know the difference.

 

[MRG]

Luck only happens to those who are prepared to take advantage of it!

I was hungry. That is huge motivation to take advantage of any opportunity.

 

[Sojourner]

Luck favors the prepared mind.

Certainly true, but doesn't having a "prepared mind" also fall into the category of luck? You didn't choose your DNA, or your parents, or your country of birth, or what kinds of early childhood education and influences your had, etc. etc. etc. So it seems to me that luck plays a gigantic role in whether or not someone has a "prepared mind" to begin with. For those who were lucky enough to have good genes, parents, education, influences, friends, etc., being able to take advantage of more obvious lucky events and circumstances later in life is a direct result of how they were shaped and "prepared" by their earlier, less obvious abundance of luck.

 

[Car-Guy]

There was a time when I thought luck played a big part in life. Looking back, I now feel that I made my own luck (for the most part) by hard work and making good decisions, at least for things under my control. For things not in my control, I've had my share of good and bad "events". I took advantage of the good and worked around the bad as best as I could.

 

[travelover]

When other people have successes, it is luck. When I have successes, it is all about hard work and determination.

 

[CRLLS]

Luck is one part of the equation. So is who are your friends while growing up and in your early work life. There are others but I think these 2 stand out for me.

 

[ls99]

Well, I was born in America (1:20), white (1:3?), male (1:2), into a doctor's family that appreciated education and could support my BA (1:5?). So basically before I had pooped in a diaper I had won the lottery. Buffett refers to this as "the ovarian lottery."

Yes! it is extremely helpful to choose one's parents well.

 

[COcheesehead]

When I was younger I thought it was all me. Me. Me. Me. I now realize, that’s only partially true and it wasn’t just my parents: hairdresser and plumber who worked their arse off for every dime, it was many coinciding factors over time.

I am paying it forward.

 

[GrayHare]

Anyone who has played a card game, and won, knows there is a best choice of action for every possible set of cards you are dealt. It takes study, and some bad decisions, to learn what the best option is.

 

[corn18]

Luck is the intersection of opportunity and preparation.

 

[pj.mask]

We have had these threads before; there are 2 camps. Those who believe that anyone who works hard enough can be smarter than Einstein and those who believe your ability to study (and comprehend) is determined by your genetics/environment growing up (not within your control)

It also tends to be people from successful families who more often believe it was luck. People who ‘escape the ghetto’ (in my sampling) all believe it was all them and not luck.

 

[Gumby]

I thought we had straightened this all out in the myriad other threads on this topic. If I have succeeded in life, it is because I am simply a superior human being. I was smarter, planned better and worked harder. If I have failed in life, it was entirely beyond my control -- the result of a malevolent and angry god, and the fact that others had an unfair advantage. On the other hand, if you have succeeded, it was because you're just a lucky bastard. If you failed, you only got what you richly deserved, you slacker.

 

[Dtail]

We have had these threads before; there are 2 camps. Those who believe that anyone who works hard enough can be smarter than Einstein and those who believe your ability to study (and comprehend) is determined by your genetics/environment growing up (not within your control)

It also tends to be people from successful families who more often believe it was luck. People who ‘escape the ghetto’ (in my sampling) all believe it was all them and not luck.

Sounds like the bet in the movie "Trading Places".

 

[Dash man]

Winning the lottery is pure luck. Most other successes involve preparation to be ready for opportunity. Bad luck can include getting a debilitating illness or injury, no matter your background.
In the end we can’t take anything with us. So what matters is how we live our life.

 

[marko]

Well, I was born in America (1:20), white (1:3?), male (1:2), into a doctor's family that appreciated education and could support my BA (1:5?). So basically before I had pooped in a diaper I had won the lottery.

That can help, but I went to high school with dozens of kids like that. They weren't doctor's kids; they were scions from extremely wealthy, influential families. Some did well in life but about half of them ended up dead, druggies or total life failures. One of them bags my groceries now.

A lot of lottery winners blow their [-]opportunity[/-] luck.

I'm sure there are hundreds of others born into the reverse situation who've done equally bad or well.

I really do believe that a lot of it is what you make of the opportunities you seize.

 

[COcheesehead]

Anyone who has played a card game, and won, knows there is a best choice of action for every possible set of cards you are dealt. It takes study, and some bad decisions, to learn what the best option is.

True, but you need a good brain, eyesight, etc ...what if you didn’t have those?

 

[GrayHare]

True, but you need a good brain, eyesight, etc ...what if you didn’t have those?

If that's the hand you're dealt, you do the best you can with it.

 

[COcheesehead]

If that's the hand you're dealt, you do the best you can with it.

But you must admit, life is easier when certain “things” are in place.

I have been wildly successful, but I am not naive enough to think that everything happened because of perfect choices on my part.

 

[unclemick]

I am not a big fan of work.

I am a big fan of 'Bogle's Folly' aka index funds - 'time in the market not market timing'. Discovered in hindsight while I tried all kinds of other investments after reading books. Except commodities.

Luck? Born at the right time and place?

heh heh heh - so the lead sled dog was my unnoticed steady/periodic investment in an index fund while I 'worked hard and studied everything else'.