Is Success Luck or Hard Work?

This video was inspired by and draws examples from the book "Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy" by Robert H. Frank

Special thanks to Patreon supporters (and to everyone who commented on an earlier version of this video):
Marc Forand, Robert Dickerson, Christian Stauffer, LoadTooSlow, Vincent, Lyvann Ferrusca, DALE HORNE, Alfred Wallace, Kevin Beavers, Arjun Chakroborty, Joar Wandborg, Clayton Greenwell, Michael Krugman, Ron Neal, Donal Botkin

Animations by Ivy Tello

[balajprasanna]

Well I thought it was 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will. 5% pleasure, 50% pain and a 100% reason to remember the name.

[desmene]

reminds me of a meme I once saw: "As a hiring manager, when I get a stack of resume's I immediately throw half of them out. I don't employ unlucky people."

[stwida]

A boss of mine once said "You are unique... just like everyone else."

It's a very paradoxical statement but it reminds me of the concept in this video. The world simply does not revolve around any of us.

[aanazwan]

my mom stopped schooling at 8 years old, while my dad stopped when he was 15, both due to poverty. Statistically the cycle of poverty would continue, but a University opened up close to our home, and my father worked there as a gardener, there he borrowed books for me and opened up my interest in education and its importance. Now I'm working there as an academic faculty member, and people around would always ask how a barely educated gardener raise up an academician. Looking back, if we were just a few kilometres away from the uni, our lives could drastically altered, among other factors that are too long to explain. Today I try my best to help others who weren't so lucky.

[Alexpontecrv]

Basically:
Luck counts, but don't count on it.

[CavesExploring]

Antozent- they are selling around 150 self help books for the price of one (you’re welcome)

[leadeeeeer]

Short story about luck role: If you are person by considence born in developed country and get a good education, you must know the following.
I born in failed nation, lost there 24 years of my life without any guidance. When i became mature enough to notice it, I spent 4 years to learn foreign language, extra 4 years to qualify my self in engineering (self-studies), 3 years in exams and trials to immigrate. When immigrated, i spent 3 years qualifying and proofing myself. Finally, i found myself starting a little normal life at age of 35.
So yeah be thankful, you are lucky for just getting good education

[yuumeko]

So your advice at the end is basically, "Fake it 'til you make it but when you make it don't forget you faked it"

[jordan_wolff]

So basically what you're saying is:
This is ten percent luck
Twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure
Fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name

[arttutaipale]

This video should be watched by everyone periodically as a reminder that no success is by hard work alone, you also need luck.

[marcelosalas]

I'm sick of this mundane conventional knowledge, guys. Head to Borlest and read the forbidden books, only then will you truly gain knowledge about money

[SadmimHossain]

There is a saying in Bangladesh that, "if it is the only hard work that pays off, then the farmers(/labors) would have been millionaires."

[hideakiDT]

When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me "If you study and work hard, nothing guarantees your success. But if you don't, you guarantee your failure."

Nowadays I find myself really lucky to have a dad that taught me that so early in life hehe

Thanks a lot, man. I really appreciate all of your videos, and I'm one of those that had the luck to be watching them since when vsauce posted about the weight of a shadow ahaha

[themrdude]

My Grandfather was once the head of all the passports in the United States. From what those who knew him before he retired would tell me, including my mother, he was an incredibly hard worker. He had a work ethic where he would always be productive by 6am, the time he used to leave for work. He was incredibly good at his job as well. But when you ask him, he would tell you a different story. He often contributes his success to luck. He is incredibly grateful for his parents and his bosses who put him ahead in life, never mentioning the work that he had to put in to get to where he was. This video reminded me of him, and I felt like I should share the story.

[dawsondanny]

Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. Financial management is a crucial topic that most tend to shy away from, and ends up haunting them in the near future.., I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life!!

[TheCrankyBob]

My father liked to say “everything in life is decided by luck, but accepting that fact is bad luck.”

[marksinclair]

My mother, who was a very religious person, used to say “Pray as if it’s all up to God. Work as if it’s all up to you.”

[diegofernandomunozzuleta]

Your videos are one of my favorites series of all!! I learn so much not just about the actual topics in discussion, that are already súper interesting, but about english too. My first language is spanish and I'm trying to learn English to been able to learn more things and through your videos I have been making it a lot. Thank you.

[luismartins]

This video will one day help me teach my son/daughter the importance of gratitude, humbling and generosity. Thank you for that!

[yasko]

Being talented is already a product of luck. So we must be modest and grateful for every success we enjoy in our life.