Comments on: Skill, Hard Work, and Luck

By: Erika Napoletano

Erika Napoletano — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:34:53 +0000

Why is it that every time I see “luck” mentioned, I think about the line from Two Face in The Dark Knight where he says, “I make my own luck”? Aside from never really knowing where the question mark goes in that situation (inside, outside the quote mark) we’d all be a shit heap better if we just put on our big people britches and got the work done instead of relying on some sort of outside force to lift us up by our wings and carry us on to the Next Big Thing.

WE are the reason we are where we are. No one saved us or brought us a golden unicorn that craps money. When we own our actions, luck becomes the smarm of used car salesman and slimy “Sunday, Sunday, Sunday” sales schpiels.

By: Selina

Selina — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:29:53 +0000

Great way to reframe for those who have a mindset that prevents them from reaching their goals with limiting thoughts, “they got there because they were lucky, I’m not lucky.”
Freeing yourself from thinking it’s luck that gets you where you want to be (and sure, that can be part of it) is liberating and you can spend time on actionable things to get you where you want to be and contribute to your growth. And yes, as Tamsen pointed out, focusing on what you can control is key.

By: Tom Webster

Tom Webster — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:27:58 +0000

I will freely cop to being lucky – but there is a difference between passively waiting for luck to happen, and pressing your luck :)

By: Tamsen

Tamsen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:25:55 +0000

In other words, focus on what you *can* control. The rest is out of your hands.

By: Khaled El-Hage

Khaled El-Hage — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:25:42 +0000

I tend to agree with Mel’s proposition. Lucky people are skillful at something they might not be aware of. I don’t rely on luck when I look ahead, but if I look backwards, I can see how lucky I was.

By: John McLachlan

John McLachlan — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:58:56 +0000

Once I stopped believing in luck, my life got a lot better. Mind you, the same thing happened when I stopped believing in “God.” To me, they are the same and they only muck up one’s life, even though some magic goes away.

By: Serge Lachapelle

Serge Lachapelle — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:53:33 +0000

Ah, life is like that…sometimes shit happens…for no reason…Luck does exist, I don’t believe in this deterministic view that everything that happens to us is created by us, hard work and bla bla…Like I said, sometimes shit just happens…

Naturally one wants to put the chances on one’s side…but sometimes having no plan is a better plan, it takes us where logic would not…and it just might make shit happen…

Analyzing one self to extreme…Am I this, or that, enough of this or that…just leads to more frustration…Maybe not succeeding in what you want will be the luckiest break of your life…

In the end, everything is a point of view…

By: Pedro Lopes

Pedro Lopes — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:41:58 +0000

You are right, believing in luck is leave ourselves to fate, but… luck actually exists, no matter how hard you work, no matter how skilled you are, if you don´t have a “little bit” of luck, what i mean for luck is: that little push that take you to the other side, that last mile when you are helped by something or someone.

Regards.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 07:46:16 +0000

Excellent post, Julien.

I like your thoughts here about hard work and skillful work.

Perhaps I would have differentiated the skillful and the creative. The reason is that I know people who are good at what they do, but fail to improvise when necessary (they aren’t as creative).

I’ve also read how when people are asked to attribute their position/pay/progress to various factors, many dismiss the element of luck altogether. Yet, luck is such a persistent part of our lives. Good to know that you also think that a lot of us are “Jim,” even if we don’t admit to it (or even think about it).

By: Ricardo Nunez

Ricardo Nunez — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:27:55 +0000

Skill and hard work is what we need, I don’t think luck play any roll and is only used by people that don’t want to do or have the first two. Arnold Palmer said “It’s a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get.”. Cheers

By: Mel

Mel — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:00:32 +0000

A client of mine wrote a book that elaborated the concept that luck does not exist and that people we “consider lucky” are people who actively do things to put themselves in a better position for good things to happen.

Good stuff. I agree. I’m half Henry, half George. (Henrietta/Georgina) I guess!