Take Your Pick: Lucky or Good?

"It is better to be lucky than good." Or so the saying goes. Would you rather be lucky or good at something? Are you better off being lucky or good? Take your pick! I want to know what you think about being lucky or good. But of course, I have to provide a fancy introduction because while this is a casual blog post, I prefer professional-type commentary. So let's do this.

--- Lucky or Good? ---

Success at something involves skill and sometimes luck. Some people tend to be more fortunate than actually being talented. Those who can be more talented than lucky may not be so lucky at getting the job done. Those who are more lucky than good are obviously good enough to complete a task successfully. Why don't we look at the two elements?

Before I begin, I want to let you know I will use a lot of sports references here. I know a lot of my audience doesn't really watch or care about sports. I still will use these references to help prove my points. Let's get on with the show now.

Better Lucky Than Good.

As a Houston Rockets fan, I was pretty angry when Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers hit a flukey three-point shot to knock out my Rockets in the 1st Round of the 2013-2014 NBA playoffs in six games. I was pretty (pardon my choice of words) damned angry and heartbroken that million-to-one 3-point shot was hit by the Portland Trail Blazers. Even Lillard (whom I respect) said it was a lucky shot in a later interview.

Think of other sports upsets- like Chaminade University's upset of the University of Virginia in 1982. Or because of the "Always Hate Houston" rule people seem to have- North Carolina State beating the University of Houston for the 1983 NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball tournament. You have to have the talent to pull certain feats off and be in a position to win. And in the case of luck, luck is more like insurance in hopes you complete a task.

Being more lucky than good means you may or may not have the talent to accomplish a task with mastery, but you somehow manage to achieve the best results in the end.

Better Good Than Lucky.

Now let's look at the other end of the spectrum. Imagine just being good enough to not have to rely on luck to assure yourself a victory. An example of being more good than lucky is that you are able to win a Spelling Bee or pass a test with high results. You rely more on skill rather than hoping you are fortunate enough to get the best results. In one mindset, that is total confidence. In another mindset, however, you can be immensely talented yet still lose. Let me use another sports example. Think of Super Bowl XLII in 2008 between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. New England seemed destined to be the only other team besides the 1972 Miami Dolphins to finish an NFL season unbeaten. They obviously had the skill to hammer the brains of all the other NFL teams to remain unbeaten. However, the Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, AZ, USA. This is a case where being talented just isn't enough- you need a little luck in hoping you can still pull through even if you have all the talent in the world.

Being more good than lucky means you believe in your talents more than hoping you are fortunate enough to get the desired result you wish to obtain.


I think that explains things quite well.





So...

Would you rather be lucky or good if you could choose between the two? Does wanting to be either lucky or good depend on certain situations?

Take your pick! I hope you've enjoyed this blog post. Feel free to contact me online if you have any ideas for future posts and topics you wouldn't mind seeing in any of my blogs. "Like" me on Facebook, Follow me on Twitter, circle me on Google+... GET SOCIAL WITH ME! Thank you for reading!

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