Success = Hard Work + Luck (Let’s Be Honest)

Being ‘upper echelon’ isn’t just about working hard—it’s also about luck. Yes, effort matters, but so does circumstance. Let’s talk about the reality of success and survival. 💭👇

Joe Lilli
 

  • @POOOOOOOO416 says:

    Thankyou, girlie.
    We need to reintroduce the concept of good fortune back into society. Will allow us to have more compassion for those who don’t make it

  • @KMartha22 says:

    My husband and I are both in high earning positions with no children and almost every day I have to pinch myself about how effing lucky we are. Yes, we both worked hard and studied difficult technical degrees, but the rewards we now reap are not justified by that and luck has so much to do with. For example my very first job that got me into my career, I reckon I only got the interview because I went to the same university as the HR person and also because apparently she really liked my name. Pure luck. I applied for similar jobs and never even got a no thanks response, unsurprisingly because there were an average of 300 applicants per role in the UK at the time

    • @nekogiri1010 says:

      I am where I am in life now because one of my college professors invited me to present my senior design project at an Army Corps of Engineer luncheon (he’s a retired brigadier general) and my presentation caught the eye of an engineer who went on to be my first employer and mentor. I graduated in 2009, so needless to say, the job market was not great. Just like you, saying this doesn’t discredit all the hard work I put into school and the amount of money I spent on my degrees, but it is important to acknowledge that luck played a big part in my career path. 15 years later, even though I no longer work at the same company, I am still in contact with my mentor. He attended my wedding last year! 🙂

  • @tabithawarren says:

    I agree. My husband and I are in a similar position. Life is more accommodating with a little money. We did work and plan in ways that our family and peers didn’t, and they have said they wouldn’t. So there is maybe 20% hard work and choices there. But once we did that, there was a fair amount of luck. Being seen and liked by the right people, etc. Another couple could have done the same things we did with completely different results.

  • @LeslieStinson says:

    I feel like this all the time. Good things don’t always happen to good people, and bad things don’t always happen to bad people. Luck is such a huge part of life.

    • @adonaiel-rohi2460 says:

      If you do nothing, nothing good will happen. Luck means nothing without proper action

    • @john2g1 says:

      ​@@adonaiel-rohi2460 I mean even that is not true. You can be lucky enough to be born as a trust fund kid and do absolutely nothing.

      You can be unlucky enough to find yourself in a civil lawsuit where the damages are amortized, and you never have to work another day in your life.

      You can marry rich… Sure sure you can work hard on finding someone wealthy, having the good looks to attract that person in the first place is a literal genetic lottery.

    • @john2g1 says:

      ​​@@adonaiel-rohi2460to be clear I’m not trying to suggest that one should strive to do nothing. However, many people quite literally don’t do anything because they were lucky enough to be in that position.

      On the flip side of that there are people with multiple jobs that work 80 hours a week every single week, but they have children and are never able to live the lifestyle that matches the effort they put in.

    • @keifer7813 says:

      ​@@adonaiel-rohi2460 False. Luck can make you successful on its own. Hard work cannot do that. Therefore luck matters a lot more

  • @bysarahalexander4426 says:

    If our pay was commensurate with our work, I would have made the most money when I worked in a call center. The emotional abuse alone warrants a six-figure salary.

  • @GetOfflineGetGood says:

    Yes! I make more money than either of my parents did, and I’m the only one in my immediate family with a college degree. And I only make $44k, I’m not filthy rich, but I got really lucky and found a good job and managed to get hired. And I found a place to live with reasonable rent, and food is fairly cheap since I live in a rural place. But I spent all my time before I got this job struggling and if I lose this job, I’ll go right back to struggling. Any of us could be on the street with enough bad days.

  • @MysticHeather says:

    Hoping luck finds us and that my husband and I find ourselves in a similar financial situation as you! We’ve been through so much and have worked so hard, fingers crossed 🤞🏻 the rest comes together

  • @jeszszsz352 says:

    I think your successful because you are so articulate. People underestimate the impact of having the ability to speak coherently and logically.

  • @teenindustry says:

    Great comment. This cuts both ways. I did not grow up rich but my parents were very comfortable . I went straight from university to a professional job and only experienced poverty in my early 30s when I went back to retrain into a different career. There were so many little things I took for granted previously that I just couldn’t. I always had the hope and aspiration that my 2 years of living off very little would end and it did. But I really learned a lot about inequity during this time

  • @johannamiller527 says:

    I think you’re selling yourself short. You’re successful because you’re good at what you do, and you identified something that people want that you could provide. Yes, there’s still some amount of being in the right place at the right time with the right idea, but you took your idea and ran with it, and you deserve all the success you’ve achieved.

  • @juliannehunter495 says:

    I’m so tired of hearing “there’s no such thing as luck”. Oh yes there is. It was refreshing to hear you say so.

    • @NancyNolan-fm9gx says:

      The common cliche is that “luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” Sadly, many people are prepared to succeed, but not everyone gets the opportunity.

    • @keifer7813 says:

      ​@@NancyNolan-fm9gx Brilliantly put. Now watch the gaslighters deny it

  • @coolchameleon21 says:

    luck plays such a huge role in success and most people don’t want to admit it. the family you were born into, how you were raised, where you were raised, the education you were given, who you know, who your family knows, and so many other things can change your path and make you more/less successful

  • @PocketKanin says:

    I constantly dream of what I would do if I made enough money to actually feel comfortable; A garden full of plants that can help others in all ways from medically and dietary to emotionally and spiritually. I want to be able to work on a passion I love that I know could help others without worrying about having enough to eat, have a roof over my head, and even being able to get the tools I need to work on the passion.
    I feel like I have just enough luck to skirt by 😞 an ultimate wallflower making enough to not qualify for programs yet poor enough for one paycheck to be just rent alone.

    • @Arissiah says:

      The poverty line is so incredibly skewed :/ everything is expensive and pay doesn’t cover it, but you know, you’re not poor because they say so

  • @amandabricot says:

    I’ve been following you for many years, since you started TFD. I hope you realize the impact you have on many people. You are kind, you have integrity, you speak the thruth and you care for people . I wish you the best 🙂 Big hugs from Montreal, Canada.

  • @ezzie_is says:

    I feel like I’m failing upwards more often than not. I’m not saying it was easy to get where I am now – stable over comfortable – but it’s been sheer dumb luck and circumstance as much as hard work. To go from being flat broke after losing my dead-end job 3 days after ending my dead-end relationship in 2022, to owning a house on my own in a job paying almost double that previous job in 2025. The amount of things that had to go EXTREMELY right to get me here in 3 years is a little unsettling in retrospect.

  • @mrggy says:

    The example I always think of is cars. My friend and I bought cars at roughly the same time. I think the car she bought was actually slightly newer/in better condition. Neither of us know much about cars. We did the basic checks you’re supposed to do before buying a car, but nothing extensive. My car ran fine and only needed a couple of minor repairs over the next 5 years. After a few years, her car had all sorts of issues and required lots of costly repairs.

    If we knew things about cars, maybe we could have done very thorough checks prior to buying to predict these issues, but we didn’t. I just got lucky and bought a car that didn’t have issues. She got unlucky and bought a car that had lots of issues. Our luck in car buying has had ripple effects on to other aspects of finances

  • @adonaiel-rohi2460 says:

    Strategic work not hard work. Sometimes it requires hard effort sometimes it’s easy effort.

    All in all it’s doing the right thing for you for good results

  • @adonaiel-rohi2460 says:

    Luck 🍀 can’t replace effort.

    One guarantee in life is if you do nothing, nothing good will happen.

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