As much of a failure my personal life has been, my professional life is back on track for a successful completion given the recent turn of events. Yet this grasp of success is elusive at best and only a small percentage of the population achieves. I have often been asked what the 'secret' to my 'success' thus far is and I have just one answer: Luck. While a part of the explanation that ensues is true for me and me alone, it is also founded on a fundamental belief: a force controls factors beyond my control. An assumption of equivalent talent also holds true.
I believe that success is founded on two principles: hardwork and luck, or fate, chance, probability, God's hand or any other word/ phrase having similar connotation. A combination of these two variables is what determines the success of any activity. Consider the simple case of an exam: Someone who has not studied at all can never excel, yet innumerable times, a student who has give it all falls short of the desired goal. There are still others who study lesser than some, yet score more than their more studious counterparts.
To solve the aforementioned apparent contradiction, I have come up with an equation: X% hardwork + Y% luck = 100% success. Y is never less than 10% and can never exceed 50%. To elucidate this, consider my case. On a test, the amount of hard work you put is only one of the factors determining the outcome. What you study, how you feel on the day of the test, the examiner's mood during grading, your own ability to recall answers and methodologies on the day of, are all other variables out of your control. Therefore, I believe that 60% of sucess is based on hardwork, 40% is based on luck. So if I do not study at all, I believe I will get a 40% on the exam. If am extremely unlucky, I will get 60% on the exam. If I work hard and get lucky i.e. the examiner is in a good mood, the questions are relatively straight forward and I am able to recall answers appropiately, I will get definitely get above 60% and can possibly reach 100%.
This example explains why hardworking people (of equivalent talent) get different outcomes in activities. Continuing the example of an examination, a student for whom everything goes right (professor is in a good mod grading the exam, questions are simple and include everything he revised at the very last minute) is luckier than the student for whom only some went right (perhaps the questions he revised at the very last minute were not the ones in the exam)/ Consequently, the first student will do better than the second student thus aolving the contradiction. Therefore I will attribute 40% of my success to luck or anything equivalent. Yet, for all this uncertainty, this is in line with my principle of giving one's best shot and having no regrets... isn't it?
I believe that success is founded on two principles: hardwork and luck, or fate, chance, probability, God's hand or any other word/ phrase having similar connotation. A combination of these two variables is what determines the success of any activity. Consider the simple case of an exam: Someone who has not studied at all can never excel, yet innumerable times, a student who has give it all falls short of the desired goal. There are still others who study lesser than some, yet score more than their more studious counterparts.
To solve the aforementioned apparent contradiction, I have come up with an equation: X% hardwork + Y% luck = 100% success. Y is never less than 10% and can never exceed 50%. To elucidate this, consider my case. On a test, the amount of hard work you put is only one of the factors determining the outcome. What you study, how you feel on the day of the test, the examiner's mood during grading, your own ability to recall answers and methodologies on the day of, are all other variables out of your control. Therefore, I believe that 60% of sucess is based on hardwork, 40% is based on luck. So if I do not study at all, I believe I will get a 40% on the exam. If am extremely unlucky, I will get 60% on the exam. If I work hard and get lucky i.e. the examiner is in a good mood, the questions are relatively straight forward and I am able to recall answers appropiately, I will get definitely get above 60% and can possibly reach 100%.
This example explains why hardworking people (of equivalent talent) get different outcomes in activities. Continuing the example of an examination, a student for whom everything goes right (professor is in a good mod grading the exam, questions are simple and include everything he revised at the very last minute) is luckier than the student for whom only some went right (perhaps the questions he revised at the very last minute were not the ones in the exam)/ Consequently, the first student will do better than the second student thus aolving the contradiction. Therefore I will attribute 40% of my success to luck or anything equivalent. Yet, for all this uncertainty, this is in line with my principle of giving one's best shot and having no regrets... isn't it?
1 comment:
I subscribe to the general flow of your argument and reasoning, but,I am not quite sure of the percentages you have used.
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