Are you giving luck its due?

Remember when you used to play board games as a kid? Maybe you were a fan of Monopoly or you were a fan of BlackJack. Maybe you were even a fan of games like Hungry Hungry Hippo (one which I thoroughly enjoyed!)

But whatever game you played, I’m sure that you were a fan of one thing:  Winning.

And why not? Winning is fun. You get a surge of feel good chemicals through your body that encourages you to keep playing. And to keep winning. People start to like you. People start to shower you with praise. And that feels good.

The danger with winning, is that you eventually start to believe your own hype. That because you’ve won in the past, means that you’ll continue to win in the future. And this is especially likely when you work hard. You believe that it’s all in your control because you persisted and did the work.

And that’s a flawed assumption. Why?

Because you can’t control luck. 

Luck is one of those concepts that people forget exists. Yes, you can be the hardest worker in the room. But if you don’t get a couple of those lucky breaks, then you won’t rise to the top.

The reason this is important, is that you become more humble. You realize how fragile success is and that it’s not all up to you. And that if you are currently successful, then maybe, just maybe, there’s someone smiling down on you.

The next time that you win and someone praises you, accept it. But always remember that you got lucky along the way.

Are you giving luck its due?