I believe in luck, but I do not feel it comes about purely as a result of random chance. I believe you can make you own luck (or dramatically skew the odds in your favor) by your actions.

I dropped out of college and immersed myself in the technology world after 17 years of professional foodservice (which I did enjoy, and did quite well in) and through lots of reading, practical hands on experience, and enormous amounts of networking I managed to rise to CIO of a mid-sized private company (actually 2 companies owned by the same person), and then left to start my own business. I now consult for multi-billion dollar publicly traded companies and earn far more than many of my friends who finished college (but not all of them).

I did not waste a lot of time going out drinking, boating, and golfing during this time. I went to tech conferences (many of them are free to attend) and met many people and pursued the relationship. I joined standards and regulatory groups (i.e. NIST groups) and listened in, and then contributed. I networked my ass off, and got lucky a lot more often than others I knew.

Despite how you interpreted what I said, and all logic aside, I meant that all it takes is drive. That is why complete idiots can (and do) become affluent. Intelligence coupled with drive will usually get you there quicker.

Intelligence without drive is usually a recipe for financial disaster. I know more than a few super intelligent lazy ass people who sit around getting stoned and can speak very intelligenly about just about any topic under the sun, but are forced to live off Ramen and Koolaid because they lack the drive.

I dropped out of college, worked as a chef for 17 years, started using a computer in 1998, and was the CIO of 2 companies (owned by the same person) by 2005. I did it because I was willing to work my ass off when the guys with degrees decided to jack their dicks for a living.

I was making 6 figures and then left to start my own company, and I still make 6 figures.

Someone once told me this, and it is true. It takes 2 things to be a success. One is intelligence, and the other is drive. Someone with a lot of intelligence and no drive will find it very hard to succeed. Someone with a lot of intelligence and a lot of drive will find it fairly easy to succeed. Someone with a lot of drive and little intelligence WILL SUCCEED.

All things being equal, execution is what it takes to win.