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Do you think your prosperity is due to your brilliance or luck?

#11
Personally, I'm sure that my brilliance is a composite reason for my success.
It ranks right up there with stubborn, opinionated and contrarian.
Realistically, I wouldn't credit Luck with much of the result.
I would see it as Opportunity which was recognized and pursued.
Luck is a finicky lady while Opportunity is necessary to have a good relationship with her.

Words of Wisdom flash

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity" This quote, attributed to Roman philosopher Seneca, reminds us that we make our own luck. The difference between lucky and unlucky people, we've seen before, is all in our perspective.
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#12
I think it was unlucky that I grew up in a place with no bathtub or shower (the second home did have an old tub). My siblings and I are all fairly prosperous - we were all lucky in marrying people who were not problematic financially, which is not to say they all were good sources of added income - we were all lucky to receive financial aid for college - we were all lucky enough to travel extensively - we were all lucky enough to put our children on good educational footing - we were lucky enough to be seeing our children and grandchildren living healthy lifestyles. It was probably just dumb luck that it was someone else who had the sister who took off for Haight-Ashbury and was never heard from again or that someone else had a parent who was cancer patient or had a mother who lived with a man who drove her once in a spell to see the children for an hour. Still, it's not easy getting anyone else in the family more than marginally interested in the stock market.
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#13
In my early career, someone told me that career success comes by being at the right place at the right time. I forgot who it was - most probably a head-hunter selling me on a job offer - but the words stuck with me for some reason.

When it comes to prosperity - it think it also relates to one or several "being at the right place at the right time" decisions, taken implicitly/unknowingly or explicitly in the past. With hard work and brilliance, people often can get to good places at a good times, but luck plays a role in whether the "good" will turn out to be "the right" one.

At the same time, without any hard-work or brilliance, people end up in the right place at the right time. That is pure luck. Only a complete lack of brilliance or hard-word can turn reverse the situation.

Good luck can easily compensate for lack of brilliance or hard-work. It is much harder for hard work or brilliance to compensate for lack of luck.
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#14
"Good luck can easily compensate for lack of brilliance or hard-work. It is much harder for hard work or brilliance to compensate for lack of luck."

The way I look at it:

Moderate Luck + Significantly above average or better brilliance and hard-work => Prosperity (these are the people who achieved success by pulling themselves up from their bootstraps, no exceptional luck, but not exceptionally bad luck either)

Good Luck + Moderate or better brilliance or hard-work => Prosperity (smart professionals who had good luck with education, family support, and joining the workforce in the right year)

Moderate Luck + Moderate brilliance and hard-work => Mediocrity (the usual situation for a large number of people)

Any Luck + Significantly below average or worse brilliance and hard-work => No Prosperity (these are a large percentage of the lottery ticket winners, for example)

Bad Luck + Any brilliance level and / or hard-work => No Prosperity (these are cases where life can always throw you a curve ball)

Of the three factors:

Luck => Not controllable by you

Brilliance => Not controllable but can be modified noticeably through years of education and hard work

Hard Work => Totally controllable by you
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