Luck matters. We hate to admit it, but it does.
Let’s start with DNA. Your genes are responsible for 50 percent of your happiness. It’s called the “genetic set point.” Don’t buy this? Talk with twins who’ve been apart for forty years. Or take a look at the research. The conclusion is clear: half of your happiness is determined at your birth. You can pick your jeans but not your genes.
Now consider demographics. How much wealth you are born into. The color of your skin. The place where you grow up. You don’t control these either.
Luck matters.
Yet we convince ourselves it does not.