Luck and Hard Work

[Sunstone]

A friend of mine who began life in a family living below the poverty line and who became a millionaire at the age of 28 once told me that he owed his success half to hard work and half to sheer luck. Do you think in general that's about right? That such success in life is about equal measures luck and hard work? Why or why not?

Please note: By "luck" I mean chance.

 

[Viker]

I think it more has to do with hard work, ambition and knowing what makes that kind of money. I guess some one could get a little lucky, too.

 

[Sunstone]

I think it more has to do with hard work, ambition and knowing what makes that kind of money. I guess some one could get a little lucky, too.

Do you think he was only "a little lucky" to have been born into a booming economy? What if he'd been born in Somalia?

 

[Viker]

Do you think he was only "a little lucky" to have been born into a booming economy? What if he'd been born in Somalia?

He didn't choose when, how or where to be born. I bet he chose to be a millionaire. There are millionaires (still left) in Somalia. They call them warlords or something over there. Now, being born into wealth is more like "a little lucky". He seems he is nice guy who is neither ashamed or too proud of his new found position. That's good. Let him think it was luck.

 

[Sunstone]

He didn't choose when, how or where to be born. I bet he chose to be a millionaire. There are millionaires (still left) in Somalia. They call them warlords or something over there. Now, being born into wealth is more like "a little lucky". He seems he is nice guy who is neither ashamed or too proud of his new found position. That's good. Let him think it was luck.

He doesn't think it was all luck. He thinks luck played a large part in it. There's a difference.

 

[Majikthise]

Sounds to me like your friend is humble. People who work hard and are willing to sacrifice usually are.

 

[Viker]

He doesn't think it was all luck. He thinks luck played a large part in it. There's a difference.

There is a difference. He should be able to consider it that way if he chooses. If there is any luck at all, it appears to me to be ridiculously picky and often mean spirited. I think chance is an awesome word. It is very real and it requires participation. Opportunity is another good one. The verdict on luck is still out. I'm not ruling it out entirely yet.

 

[Sunstone]

Sounds to me like your friend is humble. People who work hard and are willing to sacrifice usually are.

I don't think he considers himself very humble. But I do think he's a realist.

 

[9Westy9]

A friend of mine who began life in a family living below the poverty line and who became a millionaire at the age of 28 once told me that he owed his success half to hard work and half to sheer luck. Do you think in general that's about right? That such success in life is about equal measures luck and hard work? Why or why not?

Please note: By "luck" I mean chance.

not sure I'd say equal measures. They both have their part to play though.

 

[Alceste]

Everybody I know works pretty hard except the one who got lucky in real estate. I think work has less to do with financial success than chance and what you choose to do for work. If you want to be a poet or a philosopher, no amount of work our luck will make you rich. If you choose to be a hedge fund manager you can get rich in your sleep, (if you can sleep.)

 

[Jeremy Mason]

I would have to say, hard work had more to do with your friends success. However, as Ecclesiastes 9:11 NIV states:

11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Opportunity is around every corner. Being able to get someone to hand you the ball is all about luck. Knowing what to do with the ball once it is handed to you is hard work and sacrifice.

Standing in the right spot at the right time can be luck, skill, or a combination of both.

 

[dawny0826]

A friend of mine who began life in a family living below the poverty line and who became a millionaire at the age of 28 once told me that he owed his success half to hard work and half to sheer luck. Do you think in general that's about right? That such success in life is about equal measures luck and hard work? Why or why not?

Please note: By "luck" I mean chance.

I would say that it's completely contingent upon one's circumstances. Can't really blanket label as one person's success story can be so different from another's.

 

[Penumbra]

A friend of mine who began life in a family living below the poverty line and who became a millionaire at the age of 28 once told me that he owed his success half to hard work and half to sheer luck. Do you think in general that's about right? That such success in life is about equal measures luck and hard work? Why or why not?

Please note: By "luck" I mean chance.

It's a big combination of both I think.

I'd wager that the employees around me that do heavy lifting get paid less than I do, but they seem to work harder than I do and are older than I am.

There are biological considerations, then there are also considerations regarding the various early influences that a person had in life. It's also a matter of defining success. Some people choose wealth as a higher goal than others.

 

[Averroes]

A friend of mine who began life in a family living below the poverty line and who became a millionaire at the age of 28 once told me that he owed his success half to hard work and half to sheer luck. Do you think in general that's about right? That such success in life is about equal measures luck and hard work? Why or why not?

Please note: By "luck" I mean chance.

I agree....

I definitely believe in luck and the "zeitgeist" in how some are successful.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Luck plays more of a role than what most people will want to admit. Take anyone we view as being successful in America who is white (and there aren't many that aren't), and ponder at if they would have had such success had they been born a minority racial group.
Many people are also just in the right place at the right time, know the right people, or are just in a very fortunate position.
There is also the luck of being born into a wealthy family that can afford a better education, better education tools, and more prestigious colleges.
Some are lucky with what resources they have available to them, or not available to them. I'm lucky that I was able to stop claiming my parents on my FAFSA early, or I would just be starting my education rather than having two semesters and a few weeks left on my associates program.
Hard work also plays a role, but it rarely seems to be the true focus of a rags-to-riches story.

 

[Kathryn]

Hard work also plays a role, but it rarely seems to be the true focus of a rags-to-riches story.

Wow, that hasn't been my observation at all. Most people with a rags to riches story (like my ex husband and my current husband, and my grandmother, to name just a few people whose stories I know very well) busted their *** to overcome the circumstances of their birth and upbringing.

They will also tell you that many of those hardships gave them the strength they needed to overcome their challenges.

 

[Averroes]

Yeah Kathryn brought up a good point. There are people who worked hard to get to where they are at. I don't want to say "luck" because it can be misconstrude as devaluing their hardwork. I guess I'm on the fence

 

[Kathryn]

Yeah Kathryn brought up a good point. There are people who worked hard to get to where they are at. I don't want to say "luck" because it can be misconstrude as devaluing their hardwork. I guess I'm on the fence

You hit the nail on the head.

My grandmother picked cotton from sun up till sun down when she was six years old. I don't see how being white was such an advantage to her.

 

[Averroes]

You hit the nail on the head.

My grandmother picked cotton from sun up till sun down when she was six years old. I don't see how being white was such an advantage to her.

WOW a white lady picking cotton OH snap! I never heard of that one lol Not laughing but that is a new one for me.