[Caldwell-77]

Agreed -- Working hard and strategically for an extended period of time drastically increases your odds of "getting lucky."

And the most successful people in the world aren't "just the luckiest." I'm sure that they required luck to achieve their wealth (as most if not all of them would probably admit), and if they started again from scratch, they may not reach the same extraordinary heights of success. But that doesn't mean they're just lucky. If you study any highly successful person, you'll almost certainly find specific qualities that made success for the person (in some degree) exceedingly likely.

Many people might read a headline like this and then, consciously or unconsciously, marginalize the accomplishments of successful people. I think that's the wrong approach. Instead, I think it's better to focus on (i) improving yourself and your circumstances, (ii) taking action on what's directly within your control, and (iii) learning from successful people. That way, you'll increase your odds of success, and even if you don't reach your goal, you'll be a better person.