The Story of Success

I recently read the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. It is about the story of success and looks into the lives of a few exceptionally successful people. After showing some statistical evidence such as date of birth, going over the '10,000 hour rule', and other 'advantages', it points out that success is not just a matter of hard work and dedication, but a combination of many factors and luck.

The book made a lot of sense to me, since I have seen how small opportunities combined with hard work can bring success. However, if someone does not get these opportunites, they may not be able to take advantage of them. Good opportunities may start of as a small beginning to a long chain of successful occurings. People born at the right time to take advantage of opportunities, people who go to the right school that enables them to build a good network, people who stumble upon the right job at the right time, people who are born into wealth. These people had luck on their side. Some parents motivate their children to do well in school and many of their children succeed. Other parents, may not give the same kind of motivation to their children and many of their children may not succeed. Success breeds success.

For a person to be a success, the right opportunities have to come at the right time. Otherwise, those opportunities will be missed or overlooked. At the same time, it takes a certain level of drive and determination to bring about luck. People who constantly strive for the best are better prepared for opportunities when they arrive. People who complain and don't work as hard are least prepared when opportunities come. There is always a certain amount of luck involved in life, but it is up to us to forsee and take advantage of little opportunities thrown our way. There are some common elements that I have noticed in all successful people: they dont complain much, they seize the day, take time to enjoy their lives, work very hard, exercise, eat right, and the most important of all - they maintain a good attitude.