| On luck, drive, ambition, and purpose. Luck and chance are usually placed in opposition to ambition, drive, and purpose. You've got the school of thought that says all human success is due to ambition—that those who ascend the heights do so because they willingly chose to do what it takes to get there. They made a conscious decision to keep pushing, to make good decisions, to do hard work, and as a result they won. Then there's the school of thought that says luck is everything. That it's not your will, it's the good luck that falls in your lap. It's the genes your parents passed to you, the socioeconomic head start they were able to provide, the random boons that crossed your path and helped pave your way to the top. Who's right? Both are. Luck and drive, chance and will—these not only have the potential to co-exist, but they also potentiate each other. Drive creates luck. Placing yourself in novel situations, throwing yourself out there into the world, giving it your all, moving through life with purpose and intent increase your tendency to run into opportunities, have chance meetings with people who can further your cause. Hell, even just physical movement improves cognitive function and is often enough to spur the arisal of interesting, helpful thoughts and insights. Is the breakthrough solution to a problem that comes out of the blue on a walk through the woods "good luck"? Is it "chance"? Sort of. You didn't willfully pull it out of the ether. You just walked and it showed up. That's a kind of luck, and it's the kind of luck that happens to people who have drive and purpose, and get out there and live. I'm curious to hear what you think about all this. What's your take on the relation between will and luck? Take care, everyone. | 