Several times different people from my kids to my colleagues to friends to acquaintances have posed this question, sometimes to me, more often to a group “What’s the secret of success ?”. And on most occasions there have been wise people who’ve given wise answers. Most of it revolving around, “Planning, Strategizing, Hard work, Commitment, …”.
And on the rare occasion, when I was cornered with this question, my simple and honest reply was, “No Idea”. (Fortunately, this was before Abhisek’s silly “No Idea” set of ads). Lately I’ve seen this question directly and indirectly asked and answered, with a similar set of parameters.
I’ve always had a completely different point of view on this subject. My simple answer to the question “What’s the secret of success ?” would be “Luck”.
Let me explain. In most areas, whether its academic or business there are 3 sets of people. The first which would roughly comprise 10 – 20 % would be the ones who either don’t give a damn or are challenged in some way in that field. 60 – 80% would be the average persons, who have minimal commitment and will work just as hard as is required to ensure that they are able to continue to have a job with a good review from their supervisors. And then there are the top 10 – 20% who are the achievers. These are highly committed and ambitious hardworking persons who are self motivated and drive. They are the ones who make things happen and contribute heavily to the success of the organizations they belong to.
Luck is what will determine the winners from this final group. All of them are extremely smart, work hard and have phenomenal commitment. There’s very little to differentiate one from the other. Yet some of these will be hugely successful and others will be either less successful or sometimes even unsuccessful. What differentiates one from the other is Luck. Getting the right opportunity, being at the right place at the right time, and sometimes even knowing the right person. None of this can be planned or scripted.
I’ve experienced success and failure at close quarters on several occasions. Both mine and others close to me. And the only common factor that distinguished one from the other seems to be “Luck”. There are occasions when we’ve come tantalizingly close to success after years of concentrated effort, and the old adage of “There’s many a slip between the cup and the lip”, has taken over. On other occasions, we’ve done relatively less and success or a sweet deal has traipsed its way in, with us having done very little.
The conclusion is not that it’s all about Luck and we need to leave it to our destiny. The right conclusion would be that to succeed you need to work very hard with a great deal of commitment and focus. But nit to be too disappointed if success doesn’t come quickly. Keep away with it. And ultimately, chance are that Lady Luck will catch up.
And so end wishing you “Best of Luck”.
And on the rare occasion, when I was cornered with this question, my simple and honest reply was, “No Idea”. (Fortunately, this was before Abhisek’s silly “No Idea” set of ads). Lately I’ve seen this question directly and indirectly asked and answered, with a similar set of parameters.
I’ve always had a completely different point of view on this subject. My simple answer to the question “What’s the secret of success ?” would be “Luck”.
Let me explain. In most areas, whether its academic or business there are 3 sets of people. The first which would roughly comprise 10 – 20 % would be the ones who either don’t give a damn or are challenged in some way in that field. 60 – 80% would be the average persons, who have minimal commitment and will work just as hard as is required to ensure that they are able to continue to have a job with a good review from their supervisors. And then there are the top 10 – 20% who are the achievers. These are highly committed and ambitious hardworking persons who are self motivated and drive. They are the ones who make things happen and contribute heavily to the success of the organizations they belong to.
Luck is what will determine the winners from this final group. All of them are extremely smart, work hard and have phenomenal commitment. There’s very little to differentiate one from the other. Yet some of these will be hugely successful and others will be either less successful or sometimes even unsuccessful. What differentiates one from the other is Luck. Getting the right opportunity, being at the right place at the right time, and sometimes even knowing the right person. None of this can be planned or scripted.
I’ve experienced success and failure at close quarters on several occasions. Both mine and others close to me. And the only common factor that distinguished one from the other seems to be “Luck”. There are occasions when we’ve come tantalizingly close to success after years of concentrated effort, and the old adage of “There’s many a slip between the cup and the lip”, has taken over. On other occasions, we’ve done relatively less and success or a sweet deal has traipsed its way in, with us having done very little.
The conclusion is not that it’s all about Luck and we need to leave it to our destiny. The right conclusion would be that to succeed you need to work very hard with a great deal of commitment and focus. But nit to be too disappointed if success doesn’t come quickly. Keep away with it. And ultimately, chance are that Lady Luck will catch up.
And so end wishing you “Best of Luck”.
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