On the Concept of Luck (Part 2: "Preparation")

It is sheer coincidence (or is it "luck" *cough) that I wrote an editorial last week on the Concept of Luck and then this week, Obama, said exactly what I wrote was very insulting to successful people. None-the-less, he also sets up the second part of the series which is "Preparation".

As I mentioned last week Seneca wrote:

A very popular story that I often heard going to church was this:

A man spent his entire life on earth praying to God, 'Please Lord, let me win the Lottery, I could do so much for you and for humanity if you just let me win the lottery!' Yet, year after year his name was never called. Finally, the man dies and goes to heaven. Upon seeing the Lord he immediately asked, 'Why? Why God didn't you let me win the lottery, you knew how much I loved you and how much I could do!'

The Lord looked at him sternly and replied, 'How could I let you win the lottery if you never bought a ticket!' 

Success, is very much like that. A majority of the time it doesn't just 'magically' happen and fall on your lap--we have to Prepare for it. Unfortunately, we don't all have a godmother who can appear out of thin air and make us successful. Or maybe they exist but there weren't enough to go around by the time I was born...

In a small broader point, Obama is correct in that there are a lot of things that lead up to your success: Friends, Family, University, Community Support, etc...but again, without your own willing consent to work hard, apply yourself, take advantage of the opportunities available and Prepare. Friends, Family, University and Community Support might as well not even exist!

Last week I gave the example of how Harrison Ford became Han Solo. Yes, the acquisition for the role was luck, but in order to have even been in the room he had to have some preparation or experience! And in fact he did. He was a small-time actor:

In 1964, Ford moved with then-wife Mary Marquardt to Hollywood, where he soon got a spot at Columbia Pictures’ new talent program, making $150 a week. His career didn’t develop much there, and he [sic] up parting ways Columbia. He signed on for a similar deal with Universal, where he mostly wound up doing guest spots on television series. Ford later recalled that one of his biggest fears at that point was that he would become too well-known as a guest star, and that would eventually kill any chance he had at a film career.

It is often said that life is one big learning experience in which we continuously learn and prepare for the next chapter in our lives. If this is the case, than our entire success and journey in life is completely and solely dependent on Our desire to learn, prepare, and develop---It has absolutely little to do with "luck!"

If by the end of this you still aren't convinced that Preparation and Opportunity=Success and you still agree with President Obama that "Successful people are just lucky" and nothing else. Let me pose this question:

If a person's success is a matter of "luck", wouldn't unsuccessful people also be the result of luck? If it's true. No one can do anything about it. So what's the point? 

As always, have a kick ass week!

P.S.

If there is a topic you would like me to write about send me an email or leave a comment.

Read More:  On Success and r/K Theory


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