Your talent and drive are not enough. I know those believable social media quotes make you think otherwise; I know Hollywood movies and phone calls from friends, convince you hard work pays off. It has to. Because you need to believe your expertise and aptitude are worthwhile to keep you going. New research on luck and success suggests otherwise.
Talent vs luck
Chris Matyszczyk writing for Inc.com, shares research from a study called “Talent vs Luck: The Role of Randomness in Success and Failure”. Scientists from Italy’s University of Catania discovered many highly talented individuals are less successful than luckier people. A Forbes article written by Jack Kelly concludes “Hard work is important, but being lucky and in the right place at the right time trumps all.”
Kelly refers to Apple co-founder Ron Wayne as an example. Wayne sold his 10% stake in the brand for 800 dollars. Unaware in a few short years, he could have walked away as a millionaire. Before you’re born, your luck is halfway calculated. You may develop in a loving and prosperous family, or your tiny eyes might arise to a bleak war-zone. Depending on your area, you have plentiful friends or feel you live as a stranger.
Can we really create our own luck?
Last year I published “Does the Law of Attraction Hold Some Truth?” after watching ‘The Secret’ documentary. The Secret is a best-selling self-help book claiming the power of thoughts in relation to changing a person’s life. My findings suggest we have ability to enhance our luck and success, though there’s no guarantee.
We’ve all glanced at popular Instagram accounts and wondered why they have countless followers when their photos are cliché boring and dare, I say, ours are better. There is always a person at work who gets promoted despite our reluctance to justify their worthiness and everyone knows a person with the perfect career, partner and income. Plus, a friend of a friend who wins competitions like Usain Bolt wins races.
Do they have better luck than us? Were they on an equal playing field until life naturally lifted them a foot higher? Luck has entered my career. I was lucky to have a business notice me on Twitter – tweeting at the right time. I feel lucky I joined WordPress when I did; I feel lucky I continue to make great connections with others in different countries. I can become luckier. I think countless opportunities are there I haven’t had chance to know about.
Bad luck and success
Of course, luck isn’t everything. Where you choose to put yourself creates your future. You have to place yourself in a position to receive the luck you want. With relationships, I’m unlucky because I love falling for emotionally unavailable men. The universe didn’t decide to surround me with heartache. I choose to turn away good guys hoping for an extraordinary match. Luck and success are additionally based on what we consider fortune and fate.
People adore the concept of luck when it relates to nice things. Finding small change on the ground; just making the train before the door closes. Finding the last item in stock you want is in your exact size. On the other hand, every moment you get lucky – you get the last product in stock and you find a note on the floor, another gets unlucky. And when it comes to the bad; the pain, sorrow and failure, what if that’s the balance of life? What if your bad moments are not preparation and they’re not a lesson or obstacle you have to face, it’s bad luck and nothing else.
We hate that idea. We like feeling special rationalising the world has lighted a candle to our luck and success. No one wants to feel they have bad luck. What can you do with it? What about appearance? Beauty affects luck. Models blessed with perfect proportions travel and work with experts’ others in the creative industries dream about meeting. It’s comforting to think if we work our hardest and do good, the universe works in our favour. Instead of working to our greatest and still living without.
Following untalented, successful people
If luck and success relate and talented people cannot do as well as those luckier, how many individuals do we follow and admire who have made their achievements from chance? Do we care better talented people won’t receive the same glory? Arguably, Kylie Jenner is not the greatest makeup entrepreneur. She had a platform most of us don’t, and with luck already there managed to use skills and drive in lesser quantity.
Celebrity offspring such as Brooklyn Beckham – he has a photography book and has shot huge campaigns for being related to Victoria and David. They say one person can completely change everything and unfortunately, many of us won’t meet the one person we need. The cold truth is knowing our efforts do not guarantee anything. We might miss the plane we need for no other reason than bad luck.
Luck and success ponder bountiful questions. Is it determined already? Is there such a thing as luck? Undeserving and less talented people will always be around in high positions. Maybe from gutless courage or calculated moves. Maybe from being in the right place at the right time. Luck is only one factor. How do we handle it? We push ourselves to get heard and noticed, and we focus our energy towards what we want. Hopefully our work adds to our blessings in the way we desire.
Do you believe in luck? If you do, do you think to believe in being lucky you also have to accept when you’re unlucky?
I don’t believe in luck, but I believe in the idea of luck.
I have a lucky necklace, but i don’t believe it makes me lucky. I’ve worn it so many times when good things have happened to me. Now I look for good things whenever I wear it, and because I look for good things, odds are I will find something 🙂
I think luck is partially linked to thoughts and what we choose to see as luck. If I’m in a great mood, I’m more likely to notice things like paying for something just before a queue turns up and walking past a huge puddle on the road before a car drives past and splashes water. I think I use to have a lucky necklace but I have no idea where it’s gone – typical me! 🙂
I spent all day today saying I have no luck what so ever. Trying on clothes, nothing fits, it’s bad luck. Not really, I’m just overweight XD It was just easier to blame it on bad luck, haha 🙂
Lol or just blame the clothes. It was in the UK papers recently, a girl bought a dress online and it only fit one of her legs. Even though it was in her size.
I can totally relate to all of your posts girl! From my personal life, I’ve gone through this talent vs. luck and has been haunting me for years. I’ve put in so much hard work for my talents and I know I have so much potential but it never reflects in my real life and end up not succeeding that much. For me personally, even though I have what it takes I always end up with bad luck. Luck and I just don’t go togther lol. Talent, determination, hard work are really important but luck def matters as well. I feel like it’s a combo of all of them but more importantly the right timing also plays a signficiant role in success. Great post girl ❤️
Thank you girl! I think it a huge combination of things. Sometimes it’s to do with business – others may sell themselves better than a talented person or just plain old networking. I think all you can do is learn as much as you can and put yourself out there as much as you can, and then hope that luck will eventually help with the the rest. x
I’m so happy I finally have time again to read all those interesting blog posts you posted in the last couple of weeks! I personally agree with what you found here. There are so many successful people out there that are not very talented. I see it all the time. Sometimes when uni doesn’t work out for me the way I expected, I tell myself that other people were just lucky. I tell myself that I was just unlucky and that it has nothing to do with how talented I am or not. Separating these two terms is very essential for me in order to learn to be happy with myself. Great post Laura xx
Thank you!! I know talent is partly based on opinion, but I agree and think there are countless people who have success without having the same skills as others. I think that is important to remember – sometimes we get unlucky and that has nothing to do with our talent. Thank you for reading. xx
I suppose we all have good luck and bad luck within us, or both can happen to us. Sometimes I feel like we are the opportunities that we seize, the risks that we take, and within it fate plays a role too.
I believe in that as well. What we see as opportunities and choose to take, affects the luck we have. Thank you for reading!