To think a lot of people earning 6 figures aren’t actually that smart, just lucky?

[SnarkyDenimFox]

I’ve met plenty of high earners and honestly, a lot of them don’t seem any sharper than the rest of us. Right place, right time, right connections. AIBU to think it’s often luck, not talent?

I think it's more about personality actually. The high earners I know are very non-judgmental (in public anyway) and so are widely liked and respected. They also seem to know when to STFU.

On the other hand, I am shit at these things.

A lot of the time is not smart in terms of intellect necessarily, but hard work, and having the foresight to be in the right place at the right time, by creating those opportunities.

Eg revising well for GCSEs and A levels when others are messing about and partying.
Having the foresight to choose the right a levels / right university to maximise opportunities.
Joining lots of societies / networking instead of drinking (but doing the right amount of drinking to get to know people!)
Securing internships by applying instead of going home to work in a shop

Otherwise having the courage to go for promotions, putting themselves out there.

Simialrly, if self employed, having the courage to take that leap.

Of course, lots of luck will be involved too eg parental help and going to good schools. But all the high earners I know have basically worked really hard for years and years. That is a type of intellect, that’s probably more important in the real world than being a member of MENSA

There is obviously no simple answer to this question. Some successful people are very talented and some are less so but have been lucky. I think it also depends a lot on the industry / job. The very senior people I have worked with (I work in finance in The City) are generally very impressive.

Does your comment relate to your industry in particular? What area do you work in?

As a six figure earner I’d say that often what helps is a willingness to do a job that a lot of people would find quite boring and/or of no benefit to society!

I agree that emotional intelligence plays a big part.

It’s a bit of everything.

Sometimes it’s pure luck.

Sometimes it’s hard work and long hours.

Sometimes it’s from being savvy.

Sometimes it’s who you know

Sometimes it’s sacrifice and putting yourself into uncomfortable positions and missing out on life to study and get to where they need to be.

Sometimes it’s watching your friends have minimum wage jobs but not wanting that for yourself, so you push hard and go from something to everything

Sometimes it’s being gifted a million pounds in inheritance to open your own business and everything fall on a plate!!

My DH was a high earner. To misquote a famous saying “the harder he worked the luckier he got”.

Not all the time I would like to see someone "unlucky" have a go at coding main servers so they are secure

I think there is definitely an element of luck but all the people I know in that category either worked very hard initially - as per the above post, sat in studying for exams while other were partying and/or have very gregarious, outgoing, extrovert personalities i.e the gift of the gab.

I think putting it down to just luck massively downplays the work involved in getting to that position. Someone can be lucky to be intelligent, to have a talent with the potential to make big money, to come from a background where they're supported starting that career etc. But it takes a certain tenacity to push for a very successful career.

A lot is to do with privilege. Right background to get the right opportunities, to move in the right circles, to get the right guidance. I would say it's mostly to do with that actually.

Some people who earn a lot of money are incredibly smart. Not all though. Some high paying jobs require lots of education, some great commercial acumen, some really hard work, some having a dad who is the CEO and will hire you to do a C-suite job just because he likes you.

So while I agree 6 figures doesn't mean someone is clever, I don't agree it's always luck either.

YANBU. I work in a company with high earners and lots of people do have it very easy.

If you want to progress, you need to be smart and ambitious.

But yes, you can easily earn 100k and do very little if that’s what you want.

I think yes, a lot of it is prioritising jobs that take you on a high-earning pathway. Being intelligent and academically inclined certainly doesn't go against you in this regard though.

Other self-made people are smart in other ways. Great ideas, very creative and the tenacity to pursue them. Or they have a talent and worked very hard at it to get better.

I come from a very ordinary working class and not well off background but recognise various privileges and good fortune in my success.

Being white, being born in the UK, intelligent, kind, sensible parents who encouraged me, being able to got to university when there were no fees, got almost a full grant- I could go on.

Of course some of them are lucky and some are talented and clever and all that, but in my experience the one common factor is unrelenting confidence.

To add I also think it's a fallacy that people end up in these jobs through doing nothing. That might be the case in rare instances, but generally jobs that pay a lot expect to see output for it.

I don’t think it’s just about one industry, I’ve seen it across different fields. Some people climb because of real skill, others because of timing or who they know. I’m just questioning whether we overestimate ‘talent’ when luck plays such a big role.

DH and two sons all in six figures. What do they have in common? Certainly not connections. They are all smart (great exam results and degrees), they are personable and they work bloody hard. They also chose degree subjects wisely and went into jobs that suited their talents and had potential for good pay.

Follow that formula and you greatly increase your potential to earn well.

From my observations, it’s character over knowledge, having a good network and knowing how to build one when you need one, knowing how to get what you want and bringing other people with you, a good sense sense of timing, an ability to assess situations quickly, and a high tolerance level. I could progress but stopped due to latter. I don’t have the tolerance for a more stressful work life balance or for constant people engagement.

I think a lot of the high earners I know put in the graft for little reward at a mid level or early on and then reap the rewards later on. So there would be a chance to take on opportunities or extra work for no financial compensation or thanks early on- but then later down the line that has paid off.

The people I know who haven't stepped up because that's "a mugs game" are then still at that level years later.

Why don’t you also earn 6 figures?

Are there very bright people on low incomes? Most certainly.

Are most of people on high packages sufficiently bright? Most certainly yes.

Is high intelligence sufficient to climb high? most definitely no.

@Mushroo summarised it really well

Where are all these jobs that pay 6 figures despite you not needing to be that sharp or smart and can I have one.

You're meeting these people out of context and you don't see them at work, do you.

I probably come across as a little ditsy, but that's just personality. At work, though Im as sharp as a needle.

Jobs that pay the top medicine and law for example, the idea that you don't think they're any more sharp than the next person is risible. How did they pass all those exams then make it into a brutally competitive profession. If they were no better than the next person.

Dh is lucky when it came to his upbringing as a white middle class man who went to boarding school as a child which increased his confidence

he works hard, he has made some strategic job moves and as he has worked in the same area for 38 years he is very knowledgeable

he has not been lucky or strategic in all aspects of his job otherwise he would be on at least twice what he is now

he also has imposter syndrome and reckons that they will find he is crap any day now 😀

I’d say yes probably a lot of luck but also drive and tenacity that most people wouldn’t be bothered with, and I ls say they lose a lot along the way, personally I’m thinking relationships and a bit of themselves, the inability to switch off relax etc. who cares really, it’s like when people say ‘I could have done that’ or ‘I could have made that’- yes, but you didn’t!