And there are stories of rich people's kids that die from drug overdose, car crashes, suicide and any long list of tragic deaths.

Do you think having rich parents is the key to success? Your point is pointless. Deal with the life you're dealt. That's how simple life is and life has nothing to do with being fat, short, rich, poor, stupid or smart. Life is what you make of it and if you envy others it's your choice but I can tell you it will consume you and make your life miserable. Others won't want to hang with you and especially the successful types. You'll create your own bitter cocoon.

Before we can decide if luck or genetics is more important, don't we need to decide what success really is? Is it financial, happiness, health, or a combination of them all.

Ok, I just went back and read the whole thread. Success as defined as financial success. I would say its a combination of hard work, good legal advice, and luck.

don't believe in luck.... only blessings from above.

in athletics
in breeding race horses & prize bulls
genetics is the major factor

Doug Flutie & a couple of others would be an exception
but if your parents don't produce a child that will weigh 300 lbs
you will not be a lineman in the NFL

this is good also

Your points have more to do with their God given DNA and hard work, then some luck

Those people work hard to improve their God given talents. You will never here a great athletic say I was just lucky. they will say hard work and many hours in the gym is what made them great athletics.

You will never hear any one with the IQ above 5 say that it was anything more then their hard work. The left wing is who says oh no I was just lucky, even if you do not want to give credit to God for putting you in the right place. Your hard work that gets you your luck after you get the job or ,fill in the blank, it was your hard work that got you the promotion and made you successful not dumb luck. Their are lots of great athletics that never made great accomplishments because they refused to work hard or let drugs or their head get in the way. They had the great DNA just not the heart and soul to make good on their DNA. Darrel Strawberry,Dwight Gooden,Lawrence Phillips, Marcus Dupree was just a very few people with the DNA to make great things but luck or their own inability to work hard and make good decisions destroyed their careers. no such thing as dumb luck even the original poster didn't have luck he had good taste to date the girl that lead him to a great career, yes may not have been a life long love but the choice to date the young lady led him to great things. We make choices in life and those decisions have consequences both good and bad, his choice of dating this lady had good consequences. I am sure he his very grateful for what he has not from that decisions. Luck didn't get him to move a decision did. I am sure he will disagree with me since its his post but this just goes to show we can both have different opinion of same decision.

DNA is from decisions made by their parents to get together that made his DNA from theirs not dumb luck and their parents got theirs from their parents decisions and so forth.

I think that mindset and attitude have a lot more to do with success than luck does. The more I learn about the law of attraction and the power of the mind the less I believe in luck.

Sports broadcasters have to be lucky?

Yes, they have talent and a good voice helps (Berman and Collinsworth do not have great broadcasting voices; Jim Nantz, Howard Cosell and Dan Patrick do), but a lot of those guys (play by play, not former athlete analysts like Collinsworth, Aikman and Romo) have journalism or broadcast degrees, started out working locally 35 years ago and had to grind it out and work there way up.

And sports broadcasting (live games, not highlights like Berman is known for) is not easy. Is it easy for what they get paid? That�s a different conversation, but it isn�t easy and spending that much time on live TV or radio has many potential pitfalls. One mistake (Jimmy the Greek) and you�re career is over.

I think you�re conflating luck with people going towards something they�re interested in and have talent for and working their way up the ladder.

Its not what you know its who you know

Can't deny that. You have to make the right choices to meet those who you need to know.

But who you know is still not enough or everyone they know would be rich.

Good thing Tiger Woods knew his Dad. Was Tiger lucky or worked his butt off?

He's 6'1" and 185 soaking wet. Is that the best genetics to make a half billion bucks playing golf?

I felt lucky until I read through this

Didn't hurt that Bill Gate's Dad was a partner in the largest law firm in Seattle. Kinda puts a damper on the whole 'garage' story.

I believe that luck/chance/fate/timing etc. has more to do with it than the person. I know too many amazing people that worked their fingers to the bone all their life and never obtained what people would consider wealth or "financial success".

I know many successful people who are where they are by nothing more than chance.

This subject has been studied to death

First off I�ll define success as amassing wealth and I don�t mean a 4 BR, 3 BA house in Frisco with a swimming pool, two high dollar foreign sedans in the garage and a $2 million 401(k)

I mean real wealth

By far, the profile of real wealth comes from those who were to the manor born. They have old money, socialize with others with old money, go to the same old money schools and saving the best for last, marry into old money. It�s very incestuous and it�s a galaxy the nouveau riche rarely experience.

But what about the American Dream you say, and I don�t mean Dusty Rhodes. Get an education, work hard, make sacrifices to build a career, take on immense challenges to improve yourself, blah, blah, blah and you can become rich and famous.

Not bloody likely! Oh it happens alright but for everyone that makes it, there�s a slew of them who are laying in a ditch with a javelin through them. And this is further compounded by some people�s idea of what �hard� work really is.

I�m out. I don�t have a pool, and I have a couple of Fords and a Toyota. Maybe next year.