Does success depend on hard work or luck?

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Acharya Prashant (AP): Rajiv, is asking about hard work and luck.

Hard luck, Rajiv, that none of that will suffice.

Luck indicates the randomness of life. Luck indicates that you have no control over where you are born, which country, which place, what type of economic background, which gender. All of these are random occurrences in your life. None of us decided to be born, correct? It’s a matter of chance, randomness, that is what is called luck, chance, randomness. None of us decided that we will have five fingers. This again is happening out of some external force.

The everyday event that affects you, they do not happen out of your willingness. Just now there is this noise coming from outside. That fellow has not taken your permission to create that noise. Correct? All this is chance, luck. All the events that keep happening without your choice, without your will, but they affect you. Whatsoever affects you but happens without your choice, or without your will is luck. You cannot do anything about it.

But, please remember, that fellow can create noise, luck can do a lot of things to you. But that fellow has no power over your mind. He can create noise but whether you will get disturbed…