Hard work got you far. Luck helped too. Admitting that doesn’t make you smaller, it makes you honest.

Effort and chance both contributed, and most people find the second part uncomfortable to say out loud in case it discounts the first. It does not. Recognising the lucky pieces, like who you happened to meet and what was available where you grew up, is just accuracy about how outcomes work.

Name three pieces of luck in your own story, specifically. Notice that your effort still stands right next to them. Then think about who did not get those pieces and what you could do with yours.