Luck Has Never Played A Role In My Success

Luck is the Enemy of Opportunity

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Luck has never played a role in my success. Now I’m not a wealthy person nor a best-selling writer or entrepreneur, but I consider myself very successful. I created my own company in 1994 and have managed to get through the global economic disaster in 2008 and still manage to plow through COVID-19’s effects on my business.

What has always played a role is seeing and seizing upon an opportunity. Opportunity is like obscenity, as defined by the United States Supreme Court. I can’t tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it.

Opportunity is like an endless supply of energy. Despite how many people seize upon any one opportunity, there always exists more for those with vision.

I see Luck as the Enemy of Opportunity.

Many people are waiting around for Luck as if it’s some mystical unicorn that will descend upon them. Well, there are no unicorns or Luck in my reality. I see those who work both smart and hard and persistent create and seize upon those opportunities before them. It’s like the musician who’s been playing guitar for 15 years in local bars and becomes the overnight success. There was no luck. It was 15 years of playing and seizing upon the opportunity.

Or, in many cases creating opportunity.

Look, I see life as a never-ending series of random events. While some see that as jaded on my part, I see myself as a realist. I don’t believe in any master plan for the universe or my life. I think even my deliberate choices may have random consequences. I choose to be a loving and caring spouse to my wife always. Sometimes, what I say even with good intentions is misinterpreted, and I have to explain. Thus the randomness of life.

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

You wake up this morning and start the workday. Your car doesn’t start, or you miss the train as traffic was randomly heavier than usual. Because you miss the train, you’re not on board when it derails, injuring people. Was it a grand plan, or was it merely a random event. Now that near-death event has caused you to re-examine your life, so you quit your job and begin work on that new app idea you’ve had. Or maybe you’re hardly phased and continue on the same path as if nothing happened. It’s all random, and that’s okay.

It’s essential to understand that because I see it as all random, that doesn’t mean I do not have direction in my life or that nothing matters. I have a grand plan in my life, but I realize it is always subject to change due to the universe’s randomness. I feel my life does matter. Perhaps not globally, but in my small world of wife, siblings, parents, friends, co-workers, community, and sense of self, I do have importance.

I know many people who gamble think in terms of Luck. Professional gamblers realize there is no luck, only strategy, and skill. If you are a card counter, you do not base your hand or other’s hand on Luck but a mathematical probability. There are only so many cards in each suit in the deck. Hence, you bet on the statistical odds, not Luck.

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Let’s say in your office building, you forget to get off the elevator on your floor. A woman gets on who you don’t recognize, but you start up a friendly conversation. It just so happens she owns the building you work in. She takes a liking to you, and in the course of the conversation, she asks you what you do, mentions she lost someone in that position and offers you an interview.

Was it Luck?

Absolutely not, had you missed getting off on your floor and instead stared down at your shoes, nothing would have happened. Had you whined about missing your floor? Complained about how you’ll be late for a meeting or some other negative comments, the building owner wouldn’t have offered you an interview. A totally random event that, because of the choice you made, led to a positive outcome. Or nothing like that may have happened, again, totally random.

It is scary to think about how random life is. I was single again after being divorced. I went to a local SpeedDating event on a particular day and at one specific time. A woman who I’d never met and had moved here from Hungary happened to choose that certain day and that certain time to go to the same event. I happen to randomly move from my hometown, as well. We met and hit it off, dated, broke up, dated again, and now presently married for 14 years. Had either of us not gone to that event, chances are we’d never have met. Luck, nope, random choices we both made, which led to the present.

Final Consideration

If believing in Luck makes you feel good, then I’m not saying give up those feelings. Feeling good about your life will probably lead to more positive random consequences as compared to negative thoughts. But realize, all the thinking about Luck will not bring you success if you don’t learn everything in life is random. Still, work smart, hard, and be persistent as those are vital contributors to success. Making the right choices consistently, I think, will increase your odds of success. For those who caught it, yep, I purposely used the word “odds” even though all of the above is how I don’t believe in Luck. Odds are more about probability and randomness than Luck anyway. :)

I hope you found this informative. If you did, please share this on your social media so others may enjoy it as well.

About Me: Hi, I’m Stephen. I’m one of 12 kids, and I grew up in a family business that my immigrant grandfather started in 1925. Several of my siblings are still operating that same business today. I started working in the family business at around eight years old and quickly learned the value of work. I struck out on my own in 1994 with Dynamic Image Marketing and love building systems to optimize my business and life. I have helped many friends and clients do the same. I love learning new ways of doing things better and am always willing to share my knowledge with everyone.

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