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Lots Of Luck
With St. Patrick's Day approaching, this is as good a time as any to ponder the meaning of luck.
by Maxine Rock
March 1, 2006
"Y
ou're so lucky!" Successful women have heard this gushing comment again and again. It
sounds like a compliment, but if it makes you squirm, you're probably reacting to the implication
that fate is responsible for your triumphs, not your own hard work.
Women who are winners, however, know that relying on fate is a recipe
for failure. Centuries of philosophers have warned that we must create our own futures, not
bank on the spinning of the stars. Luck comes to those who work for it.
But plenty of people do rely on chance. Maybe they use it to dodge hard work, or avoid
responsibility for failures. The concept of luck may also appeal to the daredevil in some people
because it is wild, untamed and exciting; luck can't be predicted, or controlled. That makes
luck fun in a casual card game, but it's no way to decide your life. In fact, casting your fate to
luck is not deciding. Instead of looking for ways to win, you sit back and hope the ways will
come to you.
Hope and luck aren't the same. Hope assumes things will work out if you help them, while
luck implies loss of control. It's no secret that sick people with hope do better than those who
sigh and say they can't alter the situation. In a recent study of hospital patients in Norway, for
example, those with serious disease had a better quality of life if they were hopeful; patients who
thought it was up to luck didn't see any reason to try getting better.
In business, there seems to be a striking personality difference between those who believe
primarily in luck, and those who make it happen. The comparison is so sharp that scientists
have given it a name: locus of control. People with an external locus of control think what
happens to them depends on whatever is "out there;" but an internal locus of control implies that
you rely on your own behavior for the good things in life. Most of us believe in both hard work and
luck, but it's a matter of degree. You can make room in your life for a little luck, while
working energetically to wind up in the corner office.
What about people who knock themselves out trying, but still have rotten luck?
According to Deep Survival, a book by Laurence Gonzales, it's possible to grasp for success and
undermine it, both at the same time. Some people put in the hours and get so good at what
they do that they get cocky, snub their noses at warning signals, and plunge into dangerous
situations that more cautious individuals will avoid. If calamity ensues, everyone says it
was bad luck, but fault really can be traced to the daredevil's arrogance. Gonzales says
another type of hard-working but "unlucky" individual may ignore reality and keep reaching for
rewards that are clearly beyond her grasp...but she won't take no for an answer, and deliberately
puts herself in situations where she's bound to fail. Other "unlucky" people get too
emotional about their business or personal state of affairs, and make bad decisions even though
they know better. With such people, says Gonzales, "Rational (or conscious) thought always
lags behind the emotional reaction."
It looks like the best way to be lucky is to keep working at it, because fortitude is far
better than fate. The next time someone offers the dubious praise of telling you how lucky you are,
just smile, offer thanks and keep going. If they want to know where you are headed, tell them
you're off to create some more good luck.
