So you wanna be great?

luck happens to those that take risks. A regular 9-5 who sticks with his crap job and goes to work for money takes no risk. He deserves no return. Gates, Buffet, Woods all are great not because of some genetic predisposition or other trait, its because they had the balls to take risk, and work their ass off to make the expectancy of that risk positive.

What we call luck is simply a byproduct of taking a risk and working hard. Most people work hard but they dont take risks. Other people take risks and they dont work hard. If you can do both, your set.
 
Hardwork is a keystarter, luck is ... i dont know what it is..
the thing is never think of something that you cant control..
hardwork we can control it.....


good luck to everyone....
 
Quote from Hydroblunt:

Sigh,

What else do you expect for mainstream media. More BS to keep the American public in the rat race.

If it's all about hard work and persistence, why is it that most who work hard and persist don't succeed? And if everyone, or most, work hard and persist, they can all be successful? At the expense of whom? Try that for common sense.

Darwinism says it's genetics. It's partly that.

A lot of successful people say themselves that there was significant luck involved. There is just no denying it. Bill Gates clearly says that luck was involved and he was at the right place at the right time. Of course, it then required brains & work (not always hard).

And then, as the saying goes "it's not what you know, it's who you know". I think this can be observed today to a ridiculous extreme. Ever check out the US president or the candidates? How about most overpaid CEOs?

It's hard to believe, but a very significant percentage of the US population works their ass off. Most of them never make it past the lower middle class. Yet they still persist, probably because they read crap like that article every year.

P.S. If you really want some shocking reality, go research about Russia's oligarchs and how they became great. Oh yeah, TONS of hard work. Figuring out how to spend their billions, that is.
More...

I have to disagree. How many people do you know who genuinely work extremely hard? Out of all the people I know, there is only two people who did that, and one has only done it in the last 3 years. Unsurprisingly, he has also achieved the most out of anyone I know during that period. The other was a guy who had literally *no* natural talent at sport, but when he was 11 he started working his nuts off at it. He didn't become a pro, but he did do better than everyone I knew who did that sport, all of whom were much more talented than him. Every other person I know has been either moderately or incredibly lazy. Also in my own case, when I worked very hard, I made shitloads of money. When I slacked off, I made much less or lost some.

As for genetics, I agree that is a big influence, there's no getting around it. However, given your genetics, you will do MUCH MUCH better if you work your nuts off than if you laze about.

You mention connections & luck, as if that is some kind of random variable you can't affect. Nonsense. Making connections is a *skill*, which you acquire by study, work, and talent, just like any other skill. Are you a member of your local chambers of commerce, industry trade body, local political party or rotary club etc? Do you work the rooms & schmooze with the people who matter, play golf with them? If not then you are lazy at making contacts. Luck is an influence, no doubt, but you can significantly improve your odds in many ways. You aren't likely to luck into a meeting with a talented software programmer if you spend your evenings getting drunk in titty bars in Bumfuck, Idaho. Whereas if you drink at the top watering holes next to the CME, chances are you could blag your way at least into a bottom-rung clerking job with some traders if you tried for long enough.

Now if *every* working stiff tried their hardest to move to be around people in the field of their dreams, schmoozed and networked relentlessly, studied their nuts off, did anything to get an entry level job, then relentlessly did everything possible to become an renowned expert performer, and STILL didn't get anywhere or do any better than Jim Bob back home, then I would agree with you. But that's clearly not the case. As the article says, some people are lazy, some are driven. Tell me, what contacts or luck did Arnold Schwarzenegger have? The guy can hardly speak English, his profession was a meathead bodybuilder when it was the least fashionable joke of a "sport" (and still is) that one could imagine. How did he become a millionaire by 30, before he had even appeared in Hollywood? How did he get to his current position, when other action stars of his era are now put out to pasture or national laughing stocks? How the hell did this guy become governor of California? He got to the top in 3 different fields, bodybuilding, Hollywood, and California politics, despite only having a natural talent for one of those. Tell me what contacts he had when he came over? He was just another fresh off the boat nobody.
 
Quote from roberk:

Concur with hydro.
Mozart wrote his first composition at age 5- can any kid who has 'supportive parents' do that?
Einstein worked out the theory of Relativity while working a full-time job in a patent office. By all accounts he thought about the problem a great deal, but can anyone who thinks about physics match him, most scientists can barely comprehend it, let alone discover it.

That article is pyscho-babble recycled from the 70s.
More...

But it was the genius Mozart who was buried in a pauper's grave, whilst the untalented Salieri remained the successful court composer. For every Mozart or Einstein, there are 1000 Britney Spears or Tom Cruises who achieve much more material wealth and status with no apparent talent whatsoever. It's the John Grishams and Tom Clancys who top the bestseller lists, not Nobel prize-winning novelists.

Obviously if you are going to be one of the best performing people in the history of mankind, you need a huge natural gift too. Natural talent does matter, and the article says that - a 4ft dwarf will never become the best basketball player. But it is possible to be fairly successful in many fields without any great talent; and huge talent is no guarantee of success. Other things being equal, working really hard will massively increase your chances.
 
Quote from mschey:

I say Bullshit...you make your own luck in life. The traders I know that make the most money, do so because they work the hardest, have the discipline, do their diligence, and stick to their plan, and focus on achieving hitting their target. Luck has very little to do with it.
More...

Absolutely correct. It is crystal clear to me that 90% of people are simply not willing to make a concerted effort over a long period of time, no matter which field of endeavour we're talking about. And the thing is, the amount of extra effort you have to put in to be better than the vast majority is actually not that huge. Why do only 15% of small businesses succeed? You think it's luck? Bullshit. It may be partly because some people have bad ideas and bad plans, but the majority of people I know who built businesses from scratch did so by working 14 hours a day every day for years and years. The two biggest successes (not in absolute financial terms but in overall terms, quality of life included) started with borrowed money, less than $25 K in both cases.

The ability to focus on one task to the point of obsession is the flip side of the OCD coin. In that sense there may be some 'genetic' component to success. But anyone can overcome that if they have the drive, and the drive can evolve/be taught/ or whatever.

Anyone who believes that success can't be had simply through hard work hasn't spent much time overseas. There they will tell you what it's like to be in a situation where no matter how hard you work, no matter how bright you are, you often can't make it because of your last name/birth circumstances or the simple lack of opportunity where you are. In these cases, the exception proves the rule. That's why people are clamoring to come over here.

In the end it's like weight loss. Everyone knows what needs to be done to lose weight. No weird diets, nothing - just burn more calories than you're taking in. Dead simple. But most fat people aren't willing to give up the junk food and/or start exercising. It isn't because they're genetically incapable. It's because they're lazy.
 
I like the good points about hard work/risk approach. That can improve anybody's life.

But the Einstein, Mozart stuff though, there is just something mysterious there.

We went to a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony last Sunday. Just superb. And to think, that man wrote that music when he was completely stone-deaf. Cannot be explained.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top