For every 100,000 people with the right physiology, the right families, who never get injured, 99,999 don't become world class athletes.

So maybe luck isn't the, "biggest factor"?

This shit just rubs me the wrong way. I was a pro athlete when I was younger and people said to me all the time, "oh, man, you're so lucky". While they were getting drunk at the fraternity I was spending 12 hours/week in the gym, 6 hrs/week on the track, and 35 hrs/week on the field, while completing an engineering degree, at Stanford. Once all the hard work paid off though, I was just lucky.

I could have gotten injured, you're right. Oh, wait, I had shoulder surgery when I was 19. Oh, well, my family could have been less supportive. Well, we were fairly broke when I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to go to summer camps. Hmmm. Well at least I had the right physiology. Surely, that was so lucky I was really just coasting for the next 22 years.

I'm in my 30s now and run a small engineering shop. I net about $320k/yr. I get told all the time how lucky I am to be self-employed. Ok. You know I'm not part of the Saudi royal family, anyone can be a self-employed engineer... Oh, I guess most people just aren't lucky enough. It wasn't the years of hard work or my continued efforts. It's definitely the couple of lucky breaks I got.