It is no secret that success is a driving force for a lot of people all over the world. It’s what people aim for, whether it be reaching a career goal, achieving financial stability or finding happiness in your everyday life.
However you define success, I can’t think of one person on this Earth who doesn’t want to achieve it in one way or another. How we come about this success is the topic for a great debate, so it is here that I pose the question to you. In finding success, should we place more value in luck or hard work?
Now there are two sides to this debate and I am fully willing to recognize that. Hard work can be seen as how much you put into something which in turn determines how much you get out of it. Luck is determined by what you stumble across to help you out along the way. However, I feel like hard work seems to make the most sense when answering this question.
Let me explain.
The idea of luck is nice, but is it truly a reliable approach? Think about it. How many success stories are there in the world? You have Walt Disney, Steve Jobs and many others who found success throughout history. While luck did help some of them out a bit, it was never a determining factor in their overall success. It was their hard work that pushed them forward. Their determination to never give up on their end goals.
Take J.K. Rowling for example, as the creator of the Harry Potter series that we all know and love, she has found a lot of success in her life. From authoring the books to contributing to the production of the eight movies in the franchise, this woman is a prime example of what success looks like.
But it wasn’t always this way for her. Rowling was rejected by a whopping twelve publishers before her proposal for the first Harry Potter book was accepted. Many other famous authors, such as Stephen King and Sylvia Plath, were also rejected multiple times before finding their success. The common factor they all share is their willingness to put in the hard work and find that one yes in the sea of no’s. It never had anything to do with luck.
People don’t get to where they are in life simply because things fall into their laps. There are many things that start with the concept of luck, but they don’t have the chance to grow into something more unless the work is put into it. Finding a job opportunity is luck, but securing the position is hard work. Meeting someone you connect with is luck, but turning that into a successful relationship is hard work. Luck can be a piece of the puzzle, but most of the picture is put together through the work.
As much as we all wish success was something that came easy, it doesn’t. You have to be able to buckle down and work towards anything you want. Right now as a college student, my idea of success is getting my degree.
But passing an exam or getting an ‘A’ on a paper isn’t based on luck. I have to go in with a determined mindset and give it everything I’ve got in order to succeed. Look at success however you’d like, but just know you can’t achieve it without that work ethic
