You Didn't 'Just' Get Lucky, You F*cking Deserved It

People are incredibly quick to tell you that you don’t deserve it.

People are funny that way. We take credit when it isn’t due, but we don’t give credit when it is.

The reason is obvious – people like to boost their own egos, even if it means stepping all over everybody else.

Yet, in the grander scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter if others believe you deserve your success, your happiness, your life or not. It doesn’t matter if everybody else attributes it all to nothing more than pure luck.

All that really matters is what you believe. Were you lucky? Or do you actually deserve it? It can be difficult to discern – especially when everyone around you is telling you that you just got lucky.

Keep in mind that no one in the world has ever gotten successful without a little bit of luck – no one.

Even if that bit of luck was simply not getting unlucky, you need things to align just right in order to succeed. Other than that, all that really matters is you feel like you deserve it.

Happiness isn’t just about living a good life; it’s about believing you deserve the good life you’re living.

You weren't handed anything, you chased the dream.

It most certainly feels like it’s been forever. Otherwise, why would you feel such a great relief, like a heavy weight has been lifted from your shoulders?

You may have only been pursuing this particular venture for a relatively short period of time, but it’s not the venture’s success that’s in question; it’s yours.

Maybe whatever you’ve been working on – some sort of project, company, health goal, relationship goal – is somewhat fresh, but you yourself have been searching and trying to live a better life for quite some time.

What gives anyone the right to tell you that you don’t deserve what you have?

You didn't succeed at first, you failed and kept going.

I feel like all success should be measured in the amount of failures it took to get people from where they started to where they are now.

Because that’s all true success really is. Luck, on the other hand, is just the opposite.

We say someone gets lucky when they didn’t have to try too hard, when they didn’t mess up countless times before figuring it all out.

But how can someone say you don’t deserve your success when all you’ve been doing your whole life is failing?

Sure, maybe this particular thing in question took off rather quickly – or not – but your life has been nothing more than an endless series of failures you believed would inevitably lead you to success. And guess what – you were right.

You didn't make excuses, you made sacrifices.

All success comes with sacrifices. At the very least, you need to be sacrificing time and energy and all those other wonderful things you could have potentially done with a bit more of both.

Of course, sometimes those things we are forced to trade off are things we enjoy. Some have to give up on their hobbies. Others have to give up on their most comforting habits.

Sometimes we have no choice but to trade spending time with those we care about for a few extra hours of productivity.

It’s the time we spend socializing and enjoying people’s company that is usually hardest to give up on, yet is often necessary.

You didn't get distracted, you never lost sight of the mark.

You're focused. You may have occasionally drifted off in the wrong direction, but you made sure to catch yourself and redirect your course as efficiently as possible.

Even if you took a few detours, you were always headed in this one direction.

Not very many people can say that, and often, those who do are lying – to themselves and everybody else. Too often, people believe themselves to be moving when, in reality, they’ve been stuck in place this whole time.

True focus requires progress; it requires action. Mentally focusing on a goal is pointless if you don’t plan on initiating the necessary actions to achieve that goal.

If you didn’t simply want it, but dedicated yourself, stayed focus and worked on it, then don’t let anyone convince you that you don’t deserve it.

You didn't half-ass it, you gave it your everything.

Those who deserve greatness are those who had to push themselves past their comfort zone, past their self-imposed limits to something greater. Greatness requires betterment.

Improving oneself requires pushing ourselves and going beyond what even we ourselves thought we were capable of. In other words, it’s going to hurt.

If you love what you’re doing, then it will be a lot easier, but the truth is if it’s worth pursuing, then it won’t be easily pursued.

I’ve seen countless individuals pursue their dreams with such fervor they never noticed how difficult it all was – not until after they’ve succeeded.

Then it all comes rushing in. The sweat, the pain, the tears, it all comes as a wave. Greatness is reaching this point.

You didn't content yourself with success, you became hungry for more.

Those who get lucky tend to turn away from further opportunity, from new challenges.

They usually know they got lucky, and instead of admitting it, play the role they happened to land themselves in. But, as with all things, their success fades.

They never build off from their earlier success and never find sufficient reason to pursue true greatness. They simply ride out the success and inevitably fade into the background.

Then you have those who just achieved the one thing they were chasing after. They understand what they’ve accomplished and what it took to get them to where they are. Most importantly, they now know what it takes.

They aren’t afraid of once again getting their hands dirty because they now believe in themselves. They are now sure of themselves and understand what they are capable of.

They take some time to enjoy the life they’ve created for themselves and then get back to the drawing board. If you managed to accomplish so much already, imagine what you can accomplish next.

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