The Luck Bias
“[Memoirs] are overwhelmingly the self-serving rationalizations of people who, upon becoming successful, now wish to feel that they have rightfully earned their status and the respect of others. … The perpetual and overwhelming play of random chance is glossed over, and in its place a hero’s journey is invented.”
-Derren Brown, Happy
When your rival succeeds, they just got lucky.
But when you succeed, it’s the result of hard work, persistence, and talent.
Curious, isn’t it?
Either you believe luck is an irrational force, swirling around like a quantum tornado randomly bestowing itself whenever and for whomever it feels like, or you believe there is a measure of control we each exert over our own luck.
If it’s the former, you should rightly be envious of your rival’s lucky break. But you can no longer take credit for your own success.
If it’s the latter you must recognize the same hard work, persistence, and talent in your rival’s lucky breaks as in your own.
Friend or foe?
Personally, I have no idea if we actually have control over our own luck, in the same way I don’t know for sure we don’t live in a computer simulation. But it’s impossible to live as if I have no say in my own success, even if not entirely.
When my rivals succeed I check the instinct to get jealous or envious - I mean, as much as I can, I’m still human - and instead seek out the actions that may have led to their so-called lucky break. Are there habits, techniques, or attitudes they’ve adopted that I could learn from to increase my own chances at a similarly lucky break in the future?
From that vantage point our rivals needn’t be our enemies, but inspiration. If we learn from them instead of lamenting their success, we might ourselves succeed, inspiring those who view us as their rival to do the same.
A virtuous cycle forms, and we all rise, together.
