You get lucky or you don’t

For me there’s two great misconceptions in our society around success and failure.

1. You can succeed solely through hard work and/or a positive attitude (be that of an individual or a group).
2. Any one individual (or group) can be blamed or lauded when you do or don’t succeed.

We were all born onto a planet that’s been spinning for around four billion years, into a species that has been around for about 200,000 years. Civilisation has been around for maybe 5,500 years of that. In all that time decisions have constantly been made and their consequences have constantly accumulated.

Our circumstances, as individuals, as groups, as a society and as a species are a consequence of more decisions than we can feasibly count, let alone comprehend. By decisions I don’t just mean what coat shall I wear today or which company should I invest in, I mean does that neuron fire at that specific moment, or does my immune system fail to deal with that particular illness. I mean every infinitesimal thing that could have gone one, two, three or a trillion ways, including every single event since the moment the universe came into existence.

When you’re facing those kind of odds, and those kind of cumulative consequences, you realise there really isn’t very much you can claim as your own where decision making is concerned. You also realise that we’re all in the same boat, making blame (or hero worship) pretty much nonsensical.

Of course that doesn’t mean you should just give up and accept your circumstances. You still have some small say in your direction of travel. Being optimistic and doing your best certainly can’t hurt. But ultimately no-one will be to blame if something you try doesn’t come off, and you can’t claim all the credit if something succeeds.

All you can really do is try to shape your life and our world as much as possible in the time that you have. In a sense we’re all doing that anyway, whether we think we intend to or not. At the end of the day you’ll get lucky or you won’t. Try not to let it go to your head, but also don’t assume anyone else has a say (and can be blamed) either.