How much has luck got to do with how your life turns turns out. l

mariaalice

At the moment I am reading Steve Jobs' Biography and it struck me how luck played a huge part in his life, for example being brought up in the area of California where he lived as a child, the kind of adoptive parents he had, the friends he had, the school he went to basically the kind of culture he was formed in led him to become what he was. IMO Luck is the biggest influence on how your life turns out.

Guill

You're lucky to be alive. If you consider the chain of events that created the world, then life, then civilisation, then how history panned out for you to be where you are now. What job you end up in is probably the least lucky thing to happen to you.

I am pie

mariaalice wrote: »

At the moment I am reading Steve Jobs' Biography and it struck me how luck played a huge part in his life, for example being brought up in the area of California where he lived as a child, the kind of adoptive parents he had, the friends he had, the school he went to basically the kind of culture he was formed in led him to become what he was. IMO Luck is the biggest influence on how your life turns out.

Circumstance creates an opportunity, it's up to you to grab it and milk it for all it's worth !

Attitude and determination is as at least as important if not more.

Sykk

mariaalice wrote: »

IMO Luck is the biggest influence on how your life turns out.

My parents split up when I was 13 and squabbled over the family home for years which meant ad hoc renting with my siblings and I got less than 300 points in my leaving cert due to the fact that I had to miss 2/3rds of 6th year.

Now I'm a Network Engineer earning higher than average wage. Learning a new language and doing an additional degree to add to my qualifications..

Luck my hole..

clintondaly

Its not luck,its chance,coincidence,oppourtunity and the decisions made as each has arisen

FatherLen

Sykk wrote: »

doing an additional degree

NEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRD

Seachmall

I firmly believe that at least to some extent you do create your own luck.


As in, who's more likely to get lucky and be successful,

• Person A, who sits at home playing games all day.

Or

• Person B, who goes mixers to meet like-minded business people.

If Person B meets someone who invests in his business you could say it was lucky that he had that chance encounter, and it was, but he made himself available to get lucky.

SEPT 23 1989

"The Harder I Work, the Luckier I Get"

Samuel Goldwyn.

StephenHendry

luck does play a part. if you have bad luck as in losing your job or home , then of course if will influence you. its how you bounce back from that and try something or some other path that will work out for you

General Relativity

There is no such thing as luck.

mathie

You make your own luck.

Funny how every pessimist I know thinks they're unlucky and the optimists think they're lucky.

clintondaly

"At the moment I am reading Steve Jobs' Biography and it struck me"

That was unlucky

KeithAFC

I make my own luck.

FatherLen

is it weird that there is a pic of steve jobs at the bottom of my page?
or is it luck?

Plazaman

Luck? Pffftt! If it was raining tits, I'd be hit by a cock.

LittleBook

If you ever feel you're not a lucky person, just read the intro of Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" ...

Consider the fact that for 3.8 billion years, a period of time older than the Earth's mountains and rivers and oceans, every one of your forebears on both sides has been attractive enough to find a mate, healthy enough to reproduce, and sufficiently blessed by fate and circumstances to live long enough to do so.

Not one of your pertinent ancestors was squashed, devoured, drowned, starved, stranded, stuck fast, untimely wounded, or otherwise deflected from its life's quest of delivering a tiny charge of genetic material to the right partner at the right moment in order to perpetuate the only possible sequence of hereditary combinations that could result-eventually, astoundingly, and all too briefly in ... you.

im invisible

^meh

Fuhrer

KeithAFC wrote: »

I make my own luck.

And when the luck doesnt pan out, you just refuse to pay your debts.

KeithAFC

Fuhrer wrote: »

And when the luck doesnt pan out, you just refuse to pay your debts.

I don't have any debts?

foxyboxer

Died at 56? Not lucky after all.

darlett

KeithAFC wrote: »

I make my own luck.

You seem to have a lot of it. Is that for your own personal use or do you intend to supply?

franbe

some say there is no such thing as free will, not dumb crack pots either, ...which means its all pre determined. :eek:

mariaalice

I think you maybe have to read the biography to understand where I am coming from, for example he grew up a slightly tough working class area which made him the type that wasn't knocked back when things went wrong, he had a job from the age of 14 which made him appreciate money but not over value having money he has geeky/teck friends, ( Steve Wozniak among others ) he grew up in the center of the new emerging computer industry etc etc. Now you could say having anyone ONE of the above happened by chance but in IMO to have all those circumstance in his life made him lucky.

SomeGuyCalledMi

I would say hard work and perseverance are the most important traits required. And you must take chances. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take

3ndahalfof6

interesting how close it is to fúck

Irishwolff

I think living in LA is lucky enough with the hot weather & good beaches.
Maybe if he was born in a third world country he would be unlucky and not come the success he was.
I think a mixture of luck and hard work

sbsquarepants

mariaalice wrote: »

I think you maybe have to read the biography to understand where I am coming from, for example he grew up a slightly tough working class area which made him the type that wasn't knocked back when things went wrong, he had a job from the age of 14 which made him appreciate money but not over value having money he has geeky/teck friends, ( Steve Wozniak among others ) he grew up in the center of the new emerging computer industry etc etc. Now you could say having anyone ONE of the above happened by chance but in IMO to have all those circumstance in his life made him lucky.

Along with how many hundred thousand or even millions of others?

Luck plays it's small part but i think it was drive and genius that got him where it did.
I mean if it was just luck, who's luckier now you or steve jobs? If i had to switch places with one of you, i know which one it would be!

opinion guy

Sykk wrote: »

My parents split up when I was 13 and squabbled over the family home for years which meant ad hoc renting with my siblings and I got less than 300 points in my leaving cert due to the fact that I had to miss 2/3rds of 6th year.

Now I'm a Network Engineer earning higher than average wage. Learning a new language and doing an additional degree to add to my qualifications..

Luck my hole..

You simply don't realise how lucky you are. Thousands like you end up differently. Thousands more were unlucky enough to be born in warn zones, or starvation zones, or malaria zones etc.

Napper Hawkins

Sykk wrote: »

My parents split up when I was 13 and squabbled over the family home for years which meant ad hoc renting with my siblings and I got less than 300 points in my leaving cert due to the fact that I had to miss 2/3rds of 6th year.

Now I'm a Network Engineer earning higher than average wage. Learning a new language and doing an additional degree to add to my qualifications..

Luck my hole..

I beg to differ...

It was lucky that your parents split up when they did, not nice at all of course and I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but it forced you to grow up and mature a hell of a lot earlier in life thus giving you a distinct advantage over many of your peers who were still one finger up their nose and sitting on their hole in their twenties with no clear direction. It gave you a work ethic, an appreciation of money and an awareness very early on that life isn't fair and that if you want something you're gonna have to work for it. I wish I'd even had a fraction of that kind of cop on when I was a teenager, but I didn't because I had it relatively easy and thus wasted my teens and early twenties doing sweet FA because I didn't know any better.

Nobodys disputing that you worked hard and fair play for achieving what you did. But if you think luck had nothing to do with it then think again.

Sea Filly

Plazaman wrote: »

Luck? Pffftt! If it was raining tits, I'd be hit by a cock.

Luck isn't always good.

hondasam

mariaalice wrote: »

At the moment I am reading Steve Jobs' Biography and it struck me how luck played a huge part in his life, for example being brought up in the area of California where he lived as a child, the kind of adoptive parents he had, the friends he had, the school he went to basically the kind of culture he was formed in led him to become what he was. IMO Luck is the biggest influence on how your life turns out.

I think it's a combination of luck, meeting the right people who influence/help you and lots of hard work.

Logical Fallacy

foxyboxer wrote: »

Died at 56? Not lucky after all.

He died at 56 because he made a very ****ing stupid decision when he found out he was ill.

And he got to where he was by being a total bastard.

So yeah, luck has **** all to do with it.

Brian Garvey

mariaalice wrote: »

At the moment I am reading Steve Jobs' Biography and it struck me how luck played a huge part in his life, for example being brought up in the area of California where he lived as a child, the kind of adoptive parents he had, the friends he had, the school he went to basically the kind of culture he was formed in led him to become what he was. IMO Luck is the biggest influence on how your life turns out.

Im not sure if Id call that luck.
You can surround yourself, or get in contact with whoever you want if you really want to and are willing to try hard enough.
Hard work that onlookers are not aware of sometimes can be taken up as 'lucky'.
You got to try try try and keep trying. Taking chances is also important too.
You could try 100 different things, and 99 of them could fail, its the 1 that catches that makes it all worth while.
Dont think you need to be born into flash to get there - you dont.
I know a load of guys that came from nothing(more so the ones that came from nothing) that are extremely successful now after years of hard work and focus.
One guy in particular Ive met with comes from Argentina, his parents were bakers. From an early age he knew what he wanted to do, and explained that nothing would stop him from getting there if it took him 30yrs.
Well, he got there, and it did take 30yrs, his supercars now sell for 1.5m+ .
Luck has nothing whatsoever to do with what he did, and I think it would be an insult to even bring up the word.
Similar story with another Swedish guy - Christian, he and his wife had many sleepless nights, and a fire at the plant when it was young, but he continued on trying and got there too, his cars now sell for 1m+ also.

There's many more.

So do i think luck has anything to do with it, nope, but,

Hard work,
Focus,
A lot of scarifies,
A less than normal life,
Sleepless nights,
Never stop or let up,

..have a lot to do with it.

Obviously, you can say we are lucky to be here, and have enough food, and the big bang and all that stuff...but Im talking about the situation most people here are in/face at present.

BG.

battle_hardend

luck plays a huge part in how life turns out , i get tired of the cliche " you make your own luck " , its really silly , if you made your own luck , by definition alone , it would not be luck , merley good descision making

luck ( beit good or bad ) is a turn of events which was not earned

thier are an infinite number of examples and scenarios where luck transformed peoples lives , some more significant than others

when the band oasis turned up for a gig in glasgow back in 1993 , little did they know that a well connected music producer happened to be there and offered them a record deal , the reality is that thier are countless bands with as much talent as oasis but they didnt get the breaks

those female doctors who boarded an air france flight from brazil to france several years ago could not have known that thier flight was doomed , im sure they had studied hard in order to become doctors and foresaw a successfull medical career ahead of them

that swiss girl who was over in galway a number of years ago and happened to bump into a killer while out walking , im sure she planned to return to her own country having made a trip overseas , how many countless people her own age pay a visit to ireland and return home safely

thier are countless examples of fortunate or unfortunate unforeseable outcomes which utterly change the course of a persons life one way or another and which cannot be planned to perfection in advance

Pottler

Someone once said of a greek shipping tycoon, that if he was sent into a room containing 3 axes and a bag of money with six other men, all hoping to emerge with the money, he would emerge with all three axes and the money. I think determination and the force of personality you are born with play a big part...... That and Luck.

naughtysmurf

mariaalice wrote: »

At the moment I am reading Steve Jobs' Biography and it struck me how luck played a huge part in his life, for example being brought up in the area of California where he lived as a child, the kind of adoptive parents he had, the friends he had, the school he went to basically the kind of culture he was formed in led him to become what he was. IMO Luck is the biggest influence on how your life turns out.

Haven't read it but going by the above, if his parents gave him a good decent start as regards a decent upbringing, education, support, that can help a lot, after that... knowing what you want, hard work and a little sprinkle of luck along the way probably helped. I'm sure he had plenty of failures along the way.

A big shot is just a little shot who kept on shooting

Carter P Fly

I think if you are born in the first world you have had enough luck to fail or suceed as the millions and millions of others just like. Granted people having talents can also be considered a form of luck but really its all down to hard work and perseverence at the end of the day.

battle_hardend

Brian Garvey wrote: »

Im not sure if Id call that luck.
You can surround yourself, or get in contact with whoever you want if you really want to and are willing to try hard enough.
Hard work that onlookers are not aware of sometimes can be taken up as 'lucky'.
You got to try try try and keep trying. Taking chances is also important too.
You could try 100 different things, and 99 of them could fail, its the 1 that catches that makes it all worth while.
Dont think you need to be born into flash to get there - you dont.
I know a load of guys that came from nothing(more so the ones that came from nothing) that are extremely successful now after years of hard work and focus.
One guy in particular Ive met with comes from Argentina, his parents were bakers. From an early age he knew what he wanted to do, and explained that nothing would stop him from getting there if it took him 30yrs.
Well, he got there, and it did take 30yrs, his supercars now sell for 1.5m+ .
Luck has nothing whatsoever to do with what he did, and I think it would be an insult to even bring up the word.
Similar story with another Swedish guy - Christian, he and his wife had many sleepless nights, and a fire at the plant when it was young, but he continued on trying and got there too, his cars now sell for 1m+ also.

There's many more.

So do i think luck has anything to do with it, nope, but,

Hard work,
Focus,
A lot of scarifies,
A less than normal life,
Sleepless nights,
Never stop or let up,

..have a lot to do with it.

Obviously, you can say we are lucky to be here, and have enough food, and the big bang and all that stuff...but Im talking about the situation most people here are in/face at present.

BG.

i know someone who although having had a dysfucntional upbringing , worked his ass off at everything , he then made what should have been a progressive career move which turned out to be disastrous due to reasons completley beyond his control , he was a victim of office politics and a smear campaign by a company employee who destroyed his credibility and he ended up having to leave , it hit him so hard that he suffered a breakdown and has never been the same since , this guy was really talented but became a shadow of his former self , he wasnt kidnapped and tortured by terrorists or anything dramatic but his dreams were shattered by someone with thier own pathetic little poisonous agenda , this could happen anyone in any walk of life but most people manage to avoid such destructive situations

Agricola

Luck plays a role, but apart from lottery winners, almost all successful high achievers have things in common. Focus, determination, single mindedness, etc etc.

People like Jobs self torture themselves into excelling. If he had been born in India to a farming family, he would have ended up going into business selling fertilizer or some shít. And then he wouldnt stop until he was India no1 supplier of the stuff.

Bottom line is you have to have the drive or else you are going nowhere. No matter how big the silver spoon was in your mouth.

kincsem

Don't forget womb lotto. You were lucky to be born in western Europe, one of the richest areas in the world. You arrived having already won lots of coin flips.

"I make my own luck". Yes, if you ignore your luck.

battle_hardend

Agricola wrote: »

Luck plays a role, but apart from lottery winners, almost all successful high achievers have things in common. Focus, determination, single mindedness, etc etc.

People like Jobs self torture themselves into excelling. If he had been born in India to a farming family, he would have ended up going into business selling fertilizer or some shít. And then he wouldnt stop until he was India no1 supplier of the stuff.

Bottom line is you have to have the drive or else you are going nowhere. No matter how big the silver spoon was in your mouth.

if you run into a crapstorm of rotten luck , your steely determination , lazer focus and never say die spirit , quickly withers and dies , only a minority of people hit the big time and excel way beyond the average , a large majority of people leave school with a take on the world and win attitude , the majority of them by the time they are thirty are forced to settle for a hum drum , second best run of the mill life , youthfull arrogance is a powerfull force but without the breaks , it will soon exhaust itself , the super successfull carry that youthfull arrogance with them through thier life

Frank Black

Luck plays a huge part in how your life turns out.

Sometimes it's all about being in the right place at the right time.

Of course you have to be able to take advantage of the lucky breaks life throws your way, and be able to bounce back from the unlucky ones.

LincolnsBeard

Yes I had that moment of clarity upon reading Jobs' biography. That realisation of being utterly worthless.

Brian Garvey

battle_hardend wrote: »

i know someone who although having had a dysfucntional upbringing , worked his ass off at everything , he then made what should have been a progressive career move which turned out to be disastrous due to reasons completley beyond his control , he was a victim of office politics and a smear campaign by a company employee who destroyed his credibility and he ended up having to leave , it hit him so hard that he suffered a breakdown and has never been the same since , this guy was really talented but became a shadow of his former self , he wasnt kidnapped and tortured by terrorists or anything dramatic but his dreams were shattered by someone with thier own pathetic little poisonous agenda , this could happen anyone in any walk of life but most people manage to avoid such destructive situations

They say that one of the main turning points for true entrepreneurs is disgruntlement from previous careers, so there is hope for everybody it seems!

44leto

Luck is all of life, the world is a world of random events with-in chance. So some will have good chance and bad chance. I know all the clichés, you make your own luck, the harder I practice the luckier I get, etc etc.

But you are better of believing in luck as in destiny. I don't, and I have to admit that is a problem. A belief in cold random events and mathematical chance is logical, but it can be fatalistic. I tend to have a pessimistic slant on the world, that has prevented me from pursuing some things because I would say things like, "chances are slim, why bother".

But a belief in luck is open-ended its less certain, its worth a try, it may happen, you never know, be positive. And when you are you see opportunity, you get lucky.

battle_hardend

black francis wrote: »

Luck plays a huge part in how your life turns out.

Sometimes it's all about being in the right place at the right time.

Of course you have to be able to take advantage of the lucky breaks life throws your way, and be able to bounce back from the unlucky ones.

some unlucky events are impossible to bounce back from , some cost you your life and some have such a profound effect , that the persons life is forever changed

44leto

battle_hardend wrote: »

some unlucky events are impossible to bounce back from , some cost you your life and some have such a profound effect , that the persons life is forever changed

But the opposite is true, there are some lucky event which will also change your life for the rest of it.

Meet the right spouse, a big windfall a job offer.

bleg

It's not luck, it's probability.

battle_hardend

44leto wrote: »

But the opposite is true, there are some lucky event which will also change your life for the rest of it.

Meet the right spouse, a big windfall a job offer.

off course but my post was in reply to a post which implied how you must always bounce back from a stroke of rotten luck

battle_hardend

bleg wrote: »

It's not luck, it's probability.

probability is neither good luck or bad luck , its the likely average outcome , if im driving home at night , the likely outcome ( probablity ) is that i reach my destination , bad luck would be to encounter a drunk driver who crashed straight into me and rendered me paralysed , if i travel to new york , probability is that i will endure mildly uncomfortable seats for seven hours and lousy food , good luck is that i get an upgrade to business class and dine beside denis o brien , a minority of people encounter extremley good luck or bad luck in thier lives

44leto

battle_hardend wrote: »

off course but my post was in reply to a post which implied how you must always bounce back from a stroke of rotten luck

Apologies I missed that.

I suppose (from another thread) your woman's "momentary lack of concentration".