What I like so much about BloodhoundBlog, is that as a general rule all points of view are welcome. However, along with that welcome mat comes a price. Those harboring contrary beliefs tend to make themselves heard, and more in ways reminiscent of the streets of 1880’s Tombstone than Mayberry. 🙂 Frankly, I prefer the Mayberry approach. Others opt for the OK Corral.
To each their own, which is also a Bloodhound policy.
It’s always fascinated me the way some insist others who are successful with a capital ‘S’ are merely beneficiaries of more bountiful injections of luck than the next guy.
It was a hard life-lesson for me coming to terms with the reality that regardless of my best efforts, there were others who could produce superior results. Realizing I was never gonna be a Hall of Fame baseball player was traumatic. There’s always a faster runner, etc.
Does luck have a part in our lives? Of course. Is it the deciding factor? Sometimes. You just won $200 Million in the lottery? I’m thinkin’ talent wasn’t part of the equation, and luck was the only factor. You’re worth eight figures, and it wasn’t inherited? It’s my contention and core belief that you earned your wealth, and that luck wasn’t a huge component.
Yet there are many, albeit a minority who will ascribe the creation of that wealth to luck. Many will go further, believing that sans luck, those who’ve succeeded on a grand scale, (however they define that) not only wouldn’t have achieved that level of success, but literally couldn’t have.
Luck, as Grandma taught me, is often the last gasp excuse for some who’re unable or unwilling to acknowledge others’ superior results. They literally cannot allow the concept of superiority through merit to become reality. She followed this up by saying that even though Sandy Koufax will always be an infinitely better pitcher than even I could even dream of, it would never mean he was a better person.
Throughout my life I’ve been exceedingly blessed by having rubbed shoulders with, and/or having direct access to, some very successful men and women. For the life of me I can’t think of one whose triumphs in life were based primarily on luck.
Though I’ve had a lifetime to get my head around it, I’ve yet to comprehend those who point to luck as the make or break catalyst for significant success.
Instead of becoming frustrated, it was more appealing to have some fun.
Some people think Henry Ford was lucky. So were Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Apple’s Steve Jobs, and John Rockefeller according to many. All of ’em — nothing but lucky bastards. If it wasn’t for luck, they woulda been just another random group of regular guys. Same with some our most revered sports icons. Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Jim Brown — merely providential timing, recipients of good fortune, having been at the right places at the most opportune times. Take Carl Hubbell for example. Talk about lucky. Just cuz he knows how to throw a screwball, he lucks into 253 wins.
Who knew?
Hell, my own dad, God rest him, was the poster boy for luck. The guy went from a $100 weekly draw to $400,000 a year in just three years — in the 60’s. Luck is the only possible explanation. The arrogant bastard claimed it was his efforts and guts that built a business that supported 20-30 families at any given time. Rainmaker? He had to have been the gold standard for hubristic pomposity. What unbearable chutzpah. Frankly, I’m embarrassed to have come from his loins.
Who do these people think they are anyway?!
Then there’s the kid I coached 20 years ago in youth baseball. He was the only 10 year old drafted into the local Little League’s majors, which is populated by 11-12 year olds. His dad (I knew him) was no great shakes as a player, having played in organized ball only through his junior year in high school, and then not even for his school. In other words, the boy wasn’t inheriting any golden baseball genes. He was made a starter, hit over .300, and woulda been his league’s all-star second baseman if the rules hadn’t barred those under 11. Lookin’ back, the kid was lucky beyond belief. It must’ve been a down year for talent. They probably let him get hits out of sympathy. Makes sense in hindsight.
Frankly, I don’t know how Russell Shaw looks himself in the mirror. He Gumps his way through years of, to be kind, mediocre performance as a real estate agent in the Phoenix market. Then he totally lucks out by having worked at a local radio station, again Gumpin’ his way into a few commercials, one of which finally clicked. (Hell, do enough of ’em, and one has to work, right?) This led to more listings and sales, which led him to arrogantly assume it was due to his magnificent talent. One thing led to another and this guy has the temerity to go on freakin’ TV, hawking his average plus talent as an agent over the Phoenix airwaves. He now routinely lists, sells, and closes hundreds of home annually. He should rename himself — Mr. Lucky.
Anyone could’ve done what he’s done, they just weren’t blessed by Lady Luck.
All those team leaders-rainmakers in real estate offices around the country who’re closing 50-800 deals a year, makin’ $200,000 to over a million bucks, are, sadly, sailing through life completely oblivious to the part luck has played in their lives. It’s almost criminal the way they’ve so successfully mislead folks. One wonders, what would the American public do if they realized, once and for all, that those to whom they’ve given so much respect, aren’t really producing all those results. They’ve been blessed by luck. The maddening thing that makes it even worse? It’s pretty much random.
We’re not the masters of our own destinies.
We only imagine that’s true. It’s a fairy tale. The so-called mega-producers in American business have been randomly selected to experience their wildest dreams. There’s nothin’ whatsoever special about ’em. It’s smoke and mirrors. Nobody can possibly be that successful unless it predominantly owing to random luck. Warren Buffett just as easily coulda been Forrest Gump’s third cousin, Mortimer.
Lord knows I’m light years from being a captain of industry, but I must be one lucky son of a bitch.
Russ says:
Luck is when preparation and opportunity meet.
November 15, 2010 — 11:25 am
Robert Worthington says:
Jeff, you struck every single cord in my body. Some you just have to wonder, how on Earth did that happen in terms of success. Jeff, I dare say this is easily one of my top 3 articles I’ve read on Bloodhound in 2010. Good Job.
November 15, 2010 — 6:13 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Very much appreciated, Robert — thank you.
November 15, 2010 — 6:15 pm
Barbara Houston says:
So much of society plays on the idea of luck. Games of chance, the lottery, televised poker tournaments, and so on all contribute to the idea that most of life is dependent on chance. I would like to see more contests that call for skill, intellect, and creativity to win prizes that most people give away to the ‘lucky’ winners. Maybe more people would stop attributing good results to luck and instead give the credit to hard work.
November 15, 2010 — 9:18 pm
Thomas Johnson says:
Blaming it all on luck gives us an excuse not to do that which would precipitate the luck. Well done, Jeff.
November 15, 2010 — 10:05 pm
Teri Lussier says:
I’ve always believed that my luck, and I’m very VERY lucky, was created by myself- by my own actions. How’s that for having an ego? 😉
I’ve taught myself how to show up where opportunity is most likely- and where those opportunities are. I’ve taught myself how to step up to the plate and take on work that might increase my skills or experience or education- most of it either mentally or physically or emotionally hard work, a lot of it drudgery, very little of it fun or exciting, and ALL of it putting me outside my comfort zone for some reason or another. In fact, I’d have to say the more outside my comfort zone it is, the more likely it is to bring me luck.
I’m not fishing for compliments when I say this, I’m saying the truth because I want people to understand that if I can do something, anyone can do it: I’m not a big BHB brainiac. I don’t out-think people. I’m split 50/50% introvert/extrovert so I’m not a social butterfly, I’ll keep my own company to bad company any day of the week. To function as a salesperson I have compensate for what I don’t have naturally by being aware of what is going on around me. I don’t have to understand it the way other people do, I only have to figure out what I can offer that might benefit someone else, then show up and ask for the business. Sometimes I get a “No Thanks”, but more often I get… wait for it… lucky. 😉
November 16, 2010 — 6:19 am
Jeff Brown says:
Good stuff, Teri. Russ’s comment is on point. Also, most of my mentors repeated the well know nugget, ‘The harder I work, the luckier I seem to get’.
November 16, 2010 — 8:28 am
Rodney Ash says:
Gosh, I’m lucky I found this blog.
Luck is something that sometimes plays out in sports. Like a football that bounces off the shoulder pad and lands perfectly in another players hand and he scores for a touchdown. That’s pure luck. Someone like Steve Jobs did not achieve success via luck. He just so happens to be a smart guy who knows how to make things happen. Yes, he is one lucky son of a bitch because his mass fortune allows him to live a pretty darn good lifestyle, but his wealth just didn’t fall out of the sky.
Excuse me while I go find my blue rabbits foot.
November 16, 2010 — 9:42 am
Al Lorenz says:
Hmmm. I better learn what that lucky Mr. Shaw is doing, you know, to see if it could happen around here.
November 16, 2010 — 11:03 am
Russell Shaw says:
You are one lucky son of a bitch. So is every other successful person out there.
When one is losing at the game they are playing it seldom seems like a “game”. It is something happening to them. Recognizing that one is ultimately, themselves, usually the source of the happening is the road up and out.
GREAT post, Sir!
November 19, 2010 — 12:44 pm