Bad Luck Is Just a Lie You Tell Yourself

When it comes to the role of luck in getting anything you want out of life, you usually have two types of people: those who believe luck is the main factor and that you shouldn't even bother trying, and those who believe luck doesn't exist and it's all about thinking and execution. If you have to choose between the two, choose to believe that luck doesn't exist.

Realistically, I think it does exist (if we define luck as external factors you can't directly influence or replicate that work in your favor), but even if you are lucky, you still need thinking and execution, so you might as well stop whining about your bad luck and get to work.

The people you see as successful were probably lucky in some way or another, but what separated them from other people who were lucky too (but you don't know anything about) is probably excellent thinking and execution.

For example, if you think that Bill Gates is successful, you will realize that the dude got lucky for sure. He had rich parents, he was born in the US, in the perfect time to start a software company, and he had early access to computers. If he were born in Syria in 1990, there is a big chance he would have been tortured to death in Bashar al-Assad's prisons after 2011.

But how many rich kids who were born in the US during the same period, who got early access to computers, went on to become the richest person in the world at some point in their lives? Attributing Gates's "success" just to luck is an oversimplification.

Often, what feels like unchangeable bad luck is really just being stuck in the past, too hesitant to act, and too afraid to confront your own insecurities.

It's easier to bitch about the wrong country/city you were unlucky to be born in than to take action to leave the damn country/city for the one you wish you were born in.

It's easier to bitch about being unlucky to go through a useless and stupid educational system than to take action now to learn yourself the things that matter (reading books, taking courses, enrolling in classes).

It's easier to bitch about being unlucky to have abused parents and a traumatized childhood than to go to therapy sessions, to work on being the great parent you wish you had, and to give your kids the childhood you always dreamt of.

It's easier to bitch about not knowing about the importance of something when you were young than to do it now.

You can't change the past, so stop using it as an excuse to hide your laziness and fear today. Ask yourself: "What would my future self wish I would do today?" and then make sure you do it.

Ironically, most people who complain about bad luck don’t even realize how lucky they actually are.

P.S. Our cat (Leo's brother) is called "Lucky"; he's still alive.