Why You Should Be Aware of the Role of Luck in Your Success or Failure
Don’t discount your hard work , but we all get good (or bad) breaks from time to time. As beneficial as it is to focus on what you can control in life, there are several reasons why it is worth recognizing factors outside of your control as well.
Author and personal finance expert Carl Richards argues for this claim in the New York Times. Richards says:
In fact, many of us seem to be afraid to give credit to such luck because we feel that it devalues our talent or hard work. But here’s the mystery: if failure exists, and it’s not your fault, then luck also has nothing to do with your efforts or actions. And that’s okay too.
This is important if you have a habit of berating yourself for circumstances that you cannot control. Recognizing the role of luck in certain situations will help you focus more on what you can control. Instead of living, you move on to a solution.
Luck recognition also helps to avoid what is called self-attribution bias , the tendency to perceive things with a bias in order to protect your ego. In an article published in the Journal of Experimental and Behavioral Economics , researchers examined how people view their own investment skills based on their returns. When the profitability was good, the subjects recognized their skills. When the market fell, which happens sometimes , the subjects blamed bad luck. However the chips fell, they only considered themselves responsible when things were going well. You see how problematic this can be. You discount your luck, tell yourself that you are a great investor, buy or sell at the wrong time, and lose your money.
The point is, it also helps you know when the chips are in your favor and when they are not. Admitting luck can help you look at situations more objectively so you can make better decisions (and use that luck to your advantage).
Admitting good luck can also help you show empathy . When you overestimate hard work and cast luck out the window, it’s easy to assume that everyone else should be able to accomplish what you are. However, when you become aware of the role of luck, you hold back your ego, which allows you to see things more objectively and with less judgment. Richards goes into more detail on this topic, so skip to his full post at the link below.
Stop and Realize How Luck Is Linked to Your Success | New York Times