“Half of everything is luck, James.”

Exploring the influence and role luck has on our lives and success.

I think we like to understate the role that luck plays in our success, primarily because we feel it will take away from us feeling good about our achievement through our hard work, talent and perseverance. Also, we might have a number of people trying to denigrate our success by saying it was “lucky” or “nothing more than luck” that we accomplished what we did. In this case, we seek to downplay the role of luck as it is seen as a detractor to our ability and, perhaps more crucially, the legitimacy of our triumph.

“Most people talk about luck in a fortuitous sense, but it can equally deal a devastating blow.”

I believe it’s becoming more and more apparent that there is an arbitrary nature of success (and failure) of which luck plays its part. Whether it’s because we’ve become jaded, bored or conditioned to the “tried and true” ways, or given modern situations and circumstances, there’s barriers (hidden and visible) preventing most from some form of logical and coherent pattern of action and reward in life that’s reasonably accessible, I don’t know. Life truly doesn’t make sense, at times.

“Sometimes I can’t help but feel that the success of my writing depends on the luck of the draw with the internet algorithms.”

For the creatives among us – and anyone trying to succeed on the internet in general, for that matter – I always like returning to the analogy of “actors changing a lightbulb”, in which one asks how many actors it takes to do so, and the answer being 100, one to do it and 99 to say they could have done the same thing given the opportunity. Usually, creative people who succeed, unless they’re vain – which is a distinct possibility – are quick to say how lucky or fortunate they’ve been. I think this is partly because we have a better understanding of the role that luck plays in our outcomes.

I have lucked out in many ways in my life, my intelligence being one, but as I’ve written elsewhere it is both a gift and a curse – one of my better articles if it’s not too bold to say. I’ve tried to foster and nurture it a good way throughout my life, but there’s no denying that I have a cognitive advantage over the average person through no small stroke of luck. I still have to demonstrate it, or I could let it go to waste, but that wouldn’t be making the best use of my good luck would it now?

What was heartbreaking at the time yet turned into something wonderful was my motorcycle accident in 2016. I decided to take an enjoyable ride after completing my exams, on what was a fine day, which unfortunately ended in hospital (I still have the scar). I could have chosen not to go for a ride or choose a different route, but no I did not. Sadly, my pride and joy was written off – which I still miss to this day – however, rather than buy another motorcycle I decided to go on a trip to Europe – something I’d also really wanted to do. Dare I say, the feelings, experiences, memories, and friends I obtained from this journey probably surpassed what I would have had if I didn’t have the crash. I haven’t been back since thanks largely to a career change and the coronavirus pandemic, so I’m probably lucky it turned out the way it did.

I have watched my mother and father receive both good and bad luck, individually and collectively, with certain recent events that I won’t go into, reiterating how unfair life can be. I, for one, am certainly lucky to have them as my parents.

Returning to the title of this week’s article, which I nicked from the James Bond film Goldeneye, it’s a rather cool scene where 006 & 007 get into a restricted area too easily. Alec Trevelyan (006) responds to Bond’s “too easy” with “half of everything is luck, James”, and Bond quips back “what’s the other half?” while Trevelyan is trying to boobytrap the door. The alarm sounds and 006 ironically says “fate!” before they both kick into high gear knowing guards are coming. Both the themes of “luck” and “fate” are central to Alec Trevelyan’s character arc and this is explored numerously throughout the film especially in the scenes with Bond himself. This isn’t an essay on Goldeneye so I’ll stop there, but I’m not about to end on the “life’s not about having the best hand, but dealing with cards you’ve been dealt” cliché.

I think it takes a strong dose of maturity and humility to acknowledge that luck is a factor in our successes.

I think it takes a strong resolve to not feel we’re doomed by a bad roll of the dice and consigned to a future luckless fate.

Photo by Jakob Cotton on Unsplash.