I credit everything besides myself for my "success"
. Everything that I have done, anyone else could have done and achieve the same, or likely even greater, level of "success".
Some say it all luck, some say it is all environment, some say it is your decisions... in truth it is a combination of them.
I am male, but not white, a dark-skinned minority from an immigrant family. One would assume that would be a barrier for success ("think how easier things would have been for you if you were born white!"). Perhaps in a general sense... but I still wonder if I would have had the same drive and pursuit to "prove" myself and do as best as possible, instead of taking things from granted. It is an interesting point to think about.
My parents knew the reality of coming to a place at a time when they were sure to face a lot of racial issues, and where English was not my father's native language. until I just before my teen years we lived in one of the worst ghettos in the U.S. But the luck to me was, while they accepted this as a reality, they still encouraged us to for further, emphasizing education and behavior.
I was fortunate to make good decisions, but in many cases "fear" was the driving factor. I tend to have a "it could happen to me" outlook when it came to things that could mess up your life:
- Seeing bad things happen to people when I was young (dead overdose victims, friends murdered, lives radically changed - both male and female - by pregnancies in their teens, etc.) put a fear of going down those paths in me, and I tried to behave to avoid those things.
- I saw education as the great "equalizer" that in school would help me transcend any racial "stereotypes" other might apply to me. I feared not being seem as "equal" in others eyes, and sought not only to be "equal", but "better".
- Getting into an Ivy League was not a time to rest on any laurels, but introduced the fear of "this is an opportunity many others do not get. Do not blow it".
- My career and personal financial life had the element of "this is privilege, do not take it for granted, there is not safety net" fear. I saved very well, invested okay, and always sought to personally "prove myself to myself" during my working career.
While this "fear" might have seemed stressful, it was not. I found as long as I felt I did my best, I was at peace, regardless of the outcome. Because part of my "luck" was, even at times of failure, others will notice your efforts, so all is not lost
.
I differ with those who attribute everything to luck, as they tend to assume that the "luck" that benefits someone is always "good luck". But there were many instances where I experienced "bad Luck" than in the long run turned out to bring me to a more successful path than the "good luck" would have.