4 ms·
Of course after someone has achieved success they put it down entirely to innate worth, effort, skill and so forth. Likewise plenty who have deserved success ha
by oldcynic 9y ago
Of course after someone has achieved success they put it down entirely to innate worth, effort, skill and so forth. Likewise plenty who have deserved success have been wiped out by unlucky timing of the dot com bust, credit crunch, fraud.
Yes persistence pays, but however unpopular it might be around here, we are nearly all one or two rolls from disaster - be that business failure, major illness, or whatever, that can easily escalate into life ruining proportions.
I am far less inclined to simply spout "work hard and make your own luck" now than I would certainly have done in my 20s. Thirty more years of experiencing life, and seeing what sheer luck, good and bad, has done to friends, family and their businesses has changed my perspective on luck quite dramatically.
You need hard work and luck.
- skookumchuck 9y agoLuck won't happen to you if you don't get in the game. Getting in the game means getting out there swinging. Getting in the game is a choice you make.
- RobertoG 9y ago"Getting in the game is a choice you make." If you are lucky enough to make that choice ;-)
- skookumchuck 9y agoDid you reply to me because luck took hold of your fingers, or did you choose to?
- drb91 9y agoHe's replying on this forum because he's lucky enough to have a life with enough leisure time to shitpost on a web forum.
- skookumchuck 9y agoDid luck force you to reply, as well?
- raleec 9y agoI think that we can agree that we're very lucky to have you here to correct our malformed opinions! :)
- skookumchuck 9y agoYes, indeed you are! You should be buying me a beer in gratitude! And I should leave this forum and work on my plans!
- oldcynic 9y agoI used to say, and believe, such things. After over 30 years of work, and business, I have become vastly more tolerant and understanding of those who were diligently "out there swinging" until it broke them, and sometimes their families too. There comes a point where anyone will break. What of those who were swinging improperly due to their year of birth and graduated during a recession? The effect of taking something when jobs are not available can lock them into poorer quality jobs for decades. Earnings for some never catch up over a whole career, at least according to some studies. Potential employers only take interest in your previous role, and current salary, so this isn't unduly surprising. Of course you have to be "in the game", but the effects of your swings, regardless of how many, are often outwith your control.
- tarken 9y agoI am that person you describe. Went to college in 07. I was told 'study whatever you want! the markets great!" so I went into poli sci. then 08 happened, millions of jobs disappeared, more than ever before in history. 'its ok!' they said. 'it'll bounce back!', but it hasn't, not really, not for me. I graduated with my degree, disillusioned with the world's institutions and my prospects working as a diplomat or for an ngo. unable to find a job I could apply my degree to, I was at least able to 'bridge the gap' waiting tables. I was so poor, my health plummeted. eating cheap food, unable to go to a doctor's office or dental office. this was exacerbated by a smoking addiction I picked in in college. on a regular basis, I wonder what my life would be like had I gone to school a year or two later, where I'd be if I was aware of the housing/job crisis and not given the false promise of 'be whatever you want!'. of course this paragraph is an oversimplification of a very long and grueling chapter of my life, and my attempt to distill it down for the sake of anecdote does not do it justice. Those lessons learned will stick with me for the remainder of my life: mistrust of private organizations (like banks), captured public organizations (like the american government). whenever I see some bootstrapper huff and puff about how x demographic are lazy I can only roll my eyes. people live in their cushy little salary bubbles, blind to the outside world's struggles. they don't see how falling a little behind can set you so far back. Work a service job and you too can see how fucking dehumanizing wage slavery is.
- tonyedgecombe 9y agoI'm not that convinced about the hard work part, it strikes me it's a hangover from the protestant work ethic. If you can't achieve something in 40 hours a week why would adding another 20 make much difference. If anything it might make it more difficult. I think I'd phrase it as you need work and luck.
- mistermann 9y agoWhat's special about the second 20 hours that they make no difference? Does the 39th hour make a difference? The 41st?
- mistermann 9y ago-1 votes, color me surprised.
- petra 9y agoAlso the ingredients of hard work, I.e. preservance, energy, focus, etc are themselves dependent on luck - having the right genes, growth environment , health , etc - so that's another type of luck.
- skookumchuck 9y agoClaiming that working hard is "luck" is an absurd excuse for not bothering to try. The vast majority of people in the US are healthy and the environment in the US is the most conducive in the world to success. Stop making excuses.
- claytoneast 9y agoI think if you took the time to research obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc, in America vs. other countries, you would not be spouting this nonsense. Americans have the ability to get in a bad car wreck and live because we have incredible emergency care. That's it. That is not health.
- nezzle 9y agoActually this attribution - internalizing success and externalizing failure - is important for mental health. Discussed in 'How to Be Miserable: 40 Strategies You Already Use'