You can control a few parameters and improve your odds, but that's about it - you certainly can't control circumstances by definition. Becoming successful is ne

You can control a few parameters and improve your odds, but that's about it - you certainly can't control circumstances by definition. Becoming successful is never just a matter of hard or smart work (though it often requires at least the appearance of those as well). Otherwise most people would simply become successful - at which point we would redefine success in any case.