Successful people typically explain their results by pointing out their work ethic. Rafael Nadal is one such example:

“I don’t think there is any secret [to delivering top performances] other than hard work, dedication and talent.” He said in an interview recently. 

These are important factors, sure. But what’s missing from this quote is the inestimable role of good luck. 

Nadal’s uncle Tony — a professional tennis coach — discovered and began nurturing his talent when he was just three years old. An extraordinary stroke of good fortune that other similarly hardworking and talented children are very unlikely to get. As Nadal also said, “Without [Uncle Tony] I’d be nothing.”

In reality, you can’t achieve extraordinary success without good luck. It’s just that our hard work and the setbacks we’ve had to overcome are more visible to us. 

As Robert H. Frank explains in his book Success and Luck, it’s a bit like riding a bike. Even if you have a big tailwind pushing you along, you still feel the wind resistance against you. The same is true with good fortune and hard work. I am well aware of how hard writing is, for example, but seldom think about the one in six people who are illiterate. 

The good news is, considering the role of luck in success has many benefits: it allows you to recognize serendipitous events and capitalize on them, to consciously try to “create your own luck” by various means — meeting more people, experimenting more broadly, or sharing your ideas and aspirations more widely, for example — and it promotes humility and gratitude. All good things.

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