FEMI TAIWO ON MONDAY: The Many Faces of Luck

Michael Oluwafemi Taiwo, Ph.D

I made the case in my last article that luck is a necessary (but admittedly not sufficient) component of all successful endeavors. In my next article, I will reflect on why we struggle with accepting that we have been lucky in our enterprise. My focus today is on giving a few examples of ways you may have been lucky but fail to realize it.

1. Your opponent’s bad luck.

This is very common in all forms of competition. And life is an endless catalogue of competition. A familiar example is in sports. Can you count the number of times you have witnessed another team win the Championship just because a player on the opposing team made a real silly mistake? An opponent making a stupid mistake that you quickly capitalize on is luck at its best. Most times, you did nothing to make him/her commit the error but hey, you took the gift handed you.

2. Where you are born

People don’t like hearing this but it is true: where you are born is a factor of success. The knee jerk reaction people give to this statement is to reel out the names of individuals who have risen to greatness in spite of their humble beginnings. I get it. But if we do that, are we not confusing the exception with the rule?

LeBron James may have risen from a poor neighborhood in Akron, Ohio to national fame in basketball but the question is how many from his similar background have made it? I came from a poor state in a third world country; I know what poverty is like. There is nothing glorious about it. And I can tell you this: For every genius poverty have birthed, it has blighted a thousand. If you are not born poor or born to educated parents or born in an environment where excellence is celebrated then you are lucky. Why? Because you didn’t choose all that, it was handed to you.

3. Good genes

We cannot all be Usain Bolt or Michael Jordan no matter how much we try. And we cannot all live to be 100yrs old however healthy we try to live. Some frequent hospitals more than others because of some genetic defect they were born with. You inherited your genes; there is nothing you can do about that. High IQ, very good health, great athleticism are all coded in the DNA and you either have it or you don’t. You can hone them to perfection, you can develop them but if they are not there to start with, there is nothing you can do. If you have genes that enable you to do with ease what others only can with effort then you are lucky.

4. Lastly, not having bad luck

If you have ever listened to unfortunate stories, you’d know what I mean. Some people are just simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. You probably can come up with a lot of examples where those you love (or maybe even you) have just been unlucky. Being betrayed by someone you trust and love or getting involved in an accident you didn’t cause are quick instances of bad luck. But I also know of people who have never been in such situations! So, I will include not having bad luck as good luck.

Any student of human nature and interactions will readily identify with the above examples and can even add more to the list. I define as luck any help we receive along the way that we didn’t really merit. It can come in the form of your opponents slipping up, being born with the right genes or in the right family or just avoiding bad luck. If you look at it this way, it is pretty hard to still attribute 100% of your success to careful planning and hard work. Come on, admit it: yes, you are lucky.