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This short post from Seth Godin “Do you deserve it?” I was going to expand on it, but Seth illustrates the point so succinctly that it would be sacrilege to do so!
“Do you deserve the luck you’ve been handed? The place you were born, the education you were given, the job you’ve got? Do you deserve your tribe, your customer base, your brand?
Not at all. “Deserve” is such a loaded word. Most of us don’t deserve the great opportunities we have, or the lucky breaks that got us here.
The question shouldn’t be, “do you deserve it.” I think it should be, “what are you going to do with it now that you’ve got it?”
So what now?
I don't believe people 'deserve' the luck they've been handed anymore than people deserve the hardship they've been handed.
From my own life experiences I have come to believe that you can't always choose what life brings your way but you do have a choice about how you let it shape you; who you allow yourself to become as a result.
Thanks for the thought provoking post
First of, I love Seth Godin.
Second of, what a great question. We always think about what we deserve more and how we should totally own up to to what we have. For example if you are a girl you should feel you deserve the best guys out there...
But in reverse it's also about whether or not one deserves the privileges one have, because with privileges come responsibilities.
And it's also about whether or not one deserves the accounting job in that back office or not, because really, maybe one deserves to use one's talent more efficiently...
@Serena, I guess it depends on what sort of luck you have? This post jolted me into realizing that the luck I have received should not be wasted. I'm sure in your line of work you see people who have bad luck which they don't deserve, in that situation Seth's point isn't so valid.
@NYC Your last point hits home to me, I quit my job (yes in the height of the biggest job/credit crisis ever!) because I felt my talents could be used elsewhere, now I've just got to make it work!
Thanks for your comments!
To quote Bill Gates 7 June 2007 at Harvard's Commencement:
"My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”
When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given – in talent, privilege, and opportunity – there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us."
More Harvard Commencement quotes:
"You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer.
Knowing what you know, how could you not?
And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world’s deepest inequities … on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity."
If "luck" means 'fortune regardless of circumstances' (what else could it mean?) then it's not even in the realm of "deserve" since that word means 'reward for effort'.
I have no problem with his conclusion but it has, and probably always will, bother me when people qualify wisdom with fame.
All he said was 'play the cards as best you can', and I agree with it, but whether Seth or Luke or Randy or Barrack says it should make no difference to those who are more interested in the message than the medium.
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