On Luck

By Joshua Okello
The most useless word to ever appear in the dictionary. An ambiguous word without a direction. It is like a stone lying flat ready to be rolled to be in motion. It carries no avalanche that can sweep a mountain down. Luck never exists.

Luck is an illusion created by time wasters, people who pretend to be optimistic yet understand nothing or foundations of success. If possible never use the word luck. I do not have a substitute word for it for why should I substitute something that does not exist?

Even though the word sounds polite and shows that someone cares, it holds no value. All that is must have a cause. Luck does not agree with this. It assumes that greatness can be achieved effortlessly. Success never just come. People invest, people work hard, people plan, people engage and exchange and through that great endeavors are being made.

Merriam Dictionary defines luck as the accidental way things happen without being planned. How possible that is, I am not sure.
There are better things that have resulted in success and greatness. Hard work, faith resilience among others. What people mean when they talk of luck is chance. Statistically, the probability of one succeeding without working hard is very minimal therefore people should be honest with each other and say, chances are that you are going to pass or fail depending on how prepared you are for the task ahead of you.

This does not mean that we have to be arrogant or cocky when we communicate and probably that is why people prefer to use the phrase good luck. It means nothing but sounds too polite.

Luck has made people lapse on their journey to success. It has promoted mediocrity and gray scales in achievements. It makes people create a probabilistic room of success without putting in the work. That is why majority of Americans still believe in winning lottery they never play.
Statistics never lie unless it is doctored. To say that one is probable to win a lottery means that one is constantly playing, enrolling and is highly involved in the game. They make it their interest, have faith, hope and invest in it. That is hard work put together with chance not Luck.

Joshua Okello is a B.A graduate in Business Administration, International Development and Philosophy. He is also the author of the book Strategies of Entrepreneurial Leadership He has exceptional skills in organizing, coordinating projects and capacity building initiatives with key emphasis on livelihood programs; microfinance through savings and credit led models; business development services and entrepreneurial leadership. He is also the founder and Executive Director of Succeed Africa Relief Organization, a Canadian Christian Organization geared towards giving hope and transformation in lives of the chronically poor in Africa.