YSK: If you work hard enough, your work will [pay off].’ And that’s not true.
'Captain America' star Anthony Mackie: 'We're lying to our kids' when we say success comes just from hard work—luck is key, too
Put simply, being in the right place at the right time, and having connections, can be as important as having the skills and experience.
I always tell my kids, you can try your best and still fail. Sometimes you will succeed without any effort at all. Luck will affect the outcome of anything you do.
But you have to be ready for the luck. You have to work hard to be in a position to take advantage. Hard work can mitigate your failures, and any effort you put into doing your best is never wasted because you're trying to be the best version of yourself.
That's why you try. Not because you might win and get wealth and fame and glory. You try because you want to be the person who tries.
See also, honesty, kindness, generosity, forgiveness. These are not things we do to be rewarded. The universe (not to mention other people) is going to let you down more often than not. You should still be honest and kind and generous and forgiving and hardworking because that's the person you want to be.
you can try your best and still fail
One of my favourite Star Trek quotes
I've always said personally that to be the very best at something you need 1. Talent, 2. Dedication and 3. Luck. You can still be very close to the best with only two of those things, but if luck is all you have you're just going to be something like a lottery winner who blows it all in a month. Alternately, if you cultivate a habit of working hard towards your goals, then even in bad situations you'll be prepared to make the best of it that you possibly can, to get back to a good place faster.
Talent, dedication, and luck. Spot on.
I am very successful in my career and earn more than my school-age self ever expected (tbf, I expected to be a teacher). I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all three, though.
Lucky points include:
I wouldn’t have gotten those opportunities if I didn’t also have the dedication and talent, but luck was a huge factor.
I have tried the metaphor that luck opened doors for me, but I had to get to and walk through them. I will never take where I am today for granted.
Those three pillars are my best assessment of how I managed to find myself as the singular best in the world at what I was doing (nothing career worthy, though it did point me in that direction). I was lucky that my parents got me started on it at a very young age, my other hobbies were strongly synergistic meaning I was spending much of my time developing related skills, when I first got into it I just randomly happened to meet up with the group that I reached the top with, so being surrounded by such excellent company had a massive impact. I met so many people who had very strong talent and dedicated themselves, but just never got the breaks I did. But like you said, it was largely because I already had the talent from early childhood learning and had remained dedicated my whole life that I was capable of fitting in when I did meet the right people.
I strongly recommend everyone read Chris Hadfield's "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth," as he argues very strongly, with some great anecdotes from his life, for the importance of preparing to receive good luck.
What a great line from TNG!
"Luck favors the prepared!"
Edna Mode
“NO CAPES!”
– Edna Mode
And guest.
This is my beef with religion. Many seem to push the core idea that you should be honest, kind, generous, and forgiving for the promise of future rewards (heaven, or whatever comparable idea, depending on the belief system) or the prevention of future punishment and suffering (hell, etc), not for the simple pursuit of being a better person or improving the world around you.
That’s a point of view I had never considered before and makes negatice outcome less despairing (? can’t quite find the right word). Thanks a lot!
