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 had one very lucky break in 1987 that gave a significant leap in salary and made it to six figures around then, but since then worked like a demon, relentlessly, no lateness, no slacking, no leaving stuff half done, no settling for second best - I set extremely high standards for myself and am massively self-disciplined. So a mixture of luck and hard work I would say.

I was reflecting on this again and I think there is also something - and I honestly don't mean this to sound like I'm being superior because I really think this is just a temperament thing - about different people's capacity?

As in - I see people on Mumsnet talk about needing a lot of down time and wanting to work part time so as not to feel "rushed" and I don't really get it, I virtually never feel rushed or stressed and I think I have very little downtime compared to most. It's just the way I'm wired, not a particular virtue.

I work full time in a senior role, I am trustee for a charity, a school governor, I volunteer for Scouts, I have two primary age children, I exercise twice a week, I cook from scratch daily, I really don't feel particularly stressed or rushed by any of that. Not that I never have a bad day, of course I do! But I seem to be naturally able to handle more somehow. My down time consists of a couple of hours of TV a week and a few hours reading.

Another important factor is the confidence to demand negotiate pay rises and bonuses. I’m working class and I’ve always struggled to advocate for myself on that front. Many more confident (often privately educated) colleagues would secure big rises that were often undeserved. Once you’re earning a bigger salary, you’ll usually get given more responsibilities because they want their money’s worth out of you.

I rarely asked for a rise, and only really earned more once I’d secured a promotion.

You know I get this 100%. I see it on here where people are stressing about life Admin and getting things done and I just think what is the stress about? I work a full-time job 8 to 4:30 every day and I still get my life admin done. I still collect my prescriptions every month without fail. I can still bring my children to the dentist or the doctor when I need to.
I can still book haircut successfully. I can bring my children in to get new shoes when they need new ones.
And renew my car insurance without getting into a flap.
Amongst all the other things that we need to do.
Capacity to cope is a HUGE element!

Either it's so easy that anyone can do it, so why haven't you?
Or you do and are admitting you're a bit of a thicko along with the others in the same income bracket?

Which is it?

and this will sound corny, but there are people who look for opportunities, and people who look for excuses and obstacles. I have met the latter ones in all stages of my life - it's always something external to blame why they are not more successful. Something that many people who are more successful have managed - but the more pessimistic people have decided that there's no point even trying.

Not read the whole thread but I bumped into someone from school - left many years ago - who complained about her dead end job and her husbands dead end job - both at school - yet they did sweet fick all in school except act like morons, not do work, be twats. They seriously thought they should have better paying jobs and deserved it!! Twats.

I think that can be certainly be said about some of them. Someone recently started a post on MN complaining, and wondering why they didn’t qualify for funded childcare when they earned a salary in excess of £160k per annum 🙄

Ditto! X

That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m just responding to the suggestion these jobs only go to people with connections and that somehow they are undeserved. And of course people from all kinds of backgrounds work their socks off doing ridiculously unsociable hours. Not all get the pay they deseve. I only have to think of care workers and the NHS to know that’s true

I don’t think it’s luck. I think it’s about people applying themselves. For example I know several medics/dentists who were frustrated at the low earnings in NHS so now have side lines doing Botox and fillers and that’s how they make bulk of their money. Many trades people I know agree very financially successful but I doubt they did well at school. I equally know several oxbridge graduates who’re not earning much. It’s about applying yourself and hard graft and you’ve got to want it.

Well that's bollocks for a start.

One of the most successful people I know came from an extremely poor background (bordering neglect) and generations of non workers. He taught himself to read and write in his 20s and became a millionaire (many times over) in his thirties.
He did it through his ambition and hard work.
To say it's through luck is derogatory and attempts to take away his success which was extremely hard won. He couldn't have done it in the first place without ambition.
He worked hard, applied himself and made things happen himself, luck wasn't a factor in that.
I know quite a few people who are very wealthy and luck had nothing to do with it.

I think neither luck nor hard work alone are sufficient. Most people I know earn six figures, they all worked very hard, especially when young, but had some kind of privilege (which I guess is luck) that allowed them to forge a path from school to Oxbridge to high paying city job. It's rarely direct contacts or being given a job but the knowledge of how to play the game and the hard work to win it.

Absolutely this. I keep on saying the same and get shot every time

Nail on the head. Known plenty of both kinds of people over my 40+ years of working life.

Completely agree… Have been in contact with many high earners, some of which are not particularly talented, in fact the opposite. They’ve all been blessed with supreme confidence and self belief, and a brass neck to boot.

DH and I are both in that earnings category. I'm intelligent and have developed a highly marketable skill and expertise set. DH is intelligent with different strengths and has a completely different highly marketable skill set. We've generally made wise decisions about education, career, and finances that we've been able to successfully build on. I know plenty of people earning like us who might not be extremely "smart" per a specific definition but they almost all have some stand out aptitude that they're leveraging.

We both also have had advantages in our lives (or the absence of a lot of disadvantages) that gave us strong starting places and made it easier to capitalize on both our abilities and our work. These truths coexist.

I work my arse off for the money I earn and the career I've built, and I think I deserve my pay. But I never forget that the world is full of people working just as hard as me for a hell of a lot less.

Connections make a huge difference! I've met a lot of working class people who are really intelligent and hard working but haven't had the advice, experience or opportunity many people from middle class backgrounds have. They also often lack the cultural capital of middle class people so making those connections and coming across well in interviews isn't as easy for them. They can also lack confidence when around people who are from a different social class.

I don't earn six figures and never have and I am deffo on team "not just luck"

this.

It’s not luck at all. I studied very hard at university and secured results that put me in the top cohort of graduates, and this meant I secured a very good graduate job in a specific profession where salaries beat six figures pretty quickly. That wasn’t luck- I had no connections and did not go to a prestigious school. I had a goal, worked hard, and achieved it.

It drives me bonkers when I hear about clever young people aiming for roles that don’t pay. For goodness sake- if you are bright and want a good life, aim for a profession that pays well. The early years are hard work but it will pay off eventually.

Yup

Again. I was being sarcastic. On MN, many people appear to believe to be successful is purely down to luck or privilege, which to me goes against free will and the power of choice. Can't be bothered to caveat this with the numerous complexities which exist.

I was brought up on benefits and am doing far better than people expected (not 6 figure, so no skin in the OP). It was my mother struggling as a single parent which drove me.

It totally depends on the industry - as a City Lawyer, the people that I work with, especially the partners and barristers, are incredibly intelligent and not everyone could do their job

MNetters are obsessed with this topic. How many times has this question been asked
now? There seems to be a desperate need amongst so many to put an external cause to their lack of success/money/status. Sorry people, but while there are many contributing factors, including luck, the primary no 1 ’top of the list reason you aren’t earning six figures, is you.