Lifestyle No Limit Poker, The Ovarian Lottery, and Luck
Life is fair because it's unfair to everyone
Most people view luck as something beyond their control that compensates for their lack of skill or ability. The feeling is that any credit given to luck is credit that is not given to their hard work. In this way, they see luck and hard work through the lens of mutual exclusivity. Either “I got lucky” or “I worked hard.” The reality is that any major accomplishment is a confluence of both individual efforts and interference from factors beyond your control.
The other problem people have with discussing the contribution of luck to their success is that they lack a proper understanding of luck. Dictionary.com defines luck as “the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities.”
If you prefer a more traditional source for a definition of luck, consider how Merriam-Webster defines luck: “a force that brings fortune or adversity.”
If most people consider luck as a mysterious force beyond their influence or control, then it’s no wonder that successful people oppose giving it proper credit.
I’ve learned to look at luck differently. Let “n” be an intended or predicted outcome. Let k be any number of events that occur because of “n.” The unintended n+k order of effects of an action is luck. In other words, you make your own luck, but paradoxically, only when acting in a way that reduces the need for luck.
Crafting your own luck comes from strategic decisions that reduce uncertainty. The old saying, “The harder I work, the luckier I get,” has been true all along.
Think of luck like breaking the rack of balls at the start of a pool game. A great break is accurate, powerful, and will give you a strong position. However, you can’t predict or control how the balls will turn out. All you can control is the initial break and the skill with which you play the game after the balls have been scattered.
This analogy is easier for successful people to endorse. If we look at our positive outcomes as a byproduct of our actions, it’s easier to see how luck played a role. Whoever coined the saying “Luck with when preparation meets opportunity” had this idea in mind.
But what about the type of luck that you can’t influence or control in any manner that negatively affects you?