Luck

What has luck to do with it!?  A lot, many would say.  It certainly seems that successful people have always been in the right place at the right time.  However, the following argument may give you a different perspective on this subject:

In the game of backgammon, luck plays a major role in the outcome of the game.   You may play the game one night and not roll even one useful pair of dice; the next night you could call your preferred numbers and they would appear.  However, if you play this game long enough, the laws of statistics dictate that you will get as many good dice as the next guy.  So, if your friend has an overall winning percentage over you, it is simply because he is a better player, in other words, he has taken the most advantage of his good dice.

Because successful people have done the most with the opportunities in their lives, they just seem luckier.  Often their luck has been recorded, and one can go back and look at it and say, “Yes there it is.  This guy is successful because he was lucky at that time.  So that’s why I’m not successful.”  Of course, since many have not done much with their opportunities or luck, it seems like they never had any.

In fact, even the successful people consider themselves luckier than others.  This has helped them even more to become successful because it increases their confidence.  For the same reason, the unsuccessful people, simply by assuming their unluckiness, inflict a negative attitude on themselves and damage their confidence and performance.