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what are some examples of people that achieved success without working hard?

lordnacho 10y ago
Anyone born into a royal family. They get a lot of positive attention, they don't have to work, and they can do things most people cannot afford. Whether they're succesful is also judged on a different scale to everyone else. Same goes for people born into very wealthy families.
dota_fanatic 10y ago
I've met people who I would say are 100-1000x better at doing and understanding technical problems than others I've met. They can and do achieve in a decade what would take the others a lifetime, if at all. These gifted people have a much easier time when it comes to survival because they are able to accomplish things that society values. (Happiness, personal meaning, feeling of community, etc is another ball game). Furthermore, the grandparent was pointing out too that even gifted-ness aside, what family / community one comes from also has a huge impact on what possibilities are afforded them. The odds may be stacked against / for oneself before they even lift a finger.
acjohnson55 10y ago
I think of myself a pretty successful. Certainly I am by any global standard. But I'm not known for being the world's hardest worker. I make up for that with savvy. I know when to push really, really hard, but that's not the gear I live most of my life in. I've spent significant time with people that run the gamut of the socioeconomic spectrum. In my anecdotal observation, hard work and success are only loosely correlated. But I guess that depends on how you define success. One place where the hard work vs. success dilemma really plays out is in athletics. What's more evidence of success than winning a championship in sports or being in the Hall of Fame? And yet, even amongst elite players in a given sport, you'll hear about vastly different reputations for hard work and discipline. Take the tennis rivals Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, for example.

Anyone born into a royal family. They get a lot of positive attention, they don't have to work, and they can do things most people cannot afford. Whether they're succesful is also judged on a different scale to everyone else. Same goes for people born into very wealthy families.

dota_fanatic 10y ago

I've met people who I would say are 100-1000x better at doing and understanding technical problems than others I've met. They can and do achieve in a decade what would take the others a lifetime, if at all. These gifted people have a much easier time when it comes to survival because they are able to accomplish things that society values. (Happiness, personal meaning, feeling of community, etc is another ball game). Furthermore, the grandparent was pointing out too that even gifted-ness aside, what family / community one comes from also has a huge impact on what possibilities are afforded them. The odds may be stacked against / for oneself before they even lift a finger.

acjohnson55 10y ago

I think of myself a pretty successful. Certainly I am by any global standard. But I'm not known for being the world's hardest worker. I make up for that with savvy. I know when to push really, really hard, but that's not the gear I live most of my life in. I've spent significant time with people that run the gamut of the socioeconomic spectrum. In my anecdotal observation, hard work and success are only loosely correlated. But I guess that depends on how you define success. One place where the hard work vs. success dilemma really plays out is in athletics. What's more evidence of success than winning a championship in sports or being in the Hall of Fame? And yet, even amongst elite players in a given sport, you'll hear about vastly different reputations for hard work and discipline. Take the tennis rivals Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, for example.