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Why hard work isn’t enough to reach the top

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The “self-made” myth: Why hard work isn’t enough to reach the top Achieving immense success requires hard work, dedication, perseverance, and — perhaps most importantly — lots of luck. But oftentimes, luck doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves. A toxic myth pervades the business world: Hard work and perseverance are the only things required to achieve immense success and reach the top of your field. It’s a mantra championed by everyone from Wall Street titans to our sitting US President (“I built what I built myself,” Trump  told  Charlie Rose in 1992. “I did it by working long hours, working hard and working smart!”). This idea is staunchly rooted in the very foundations of America — a nation built on the cornerstones of rugged individualism, picking oneself up by the bootstraps, and accruing riches through sheer determination. Those who do make it big often fancy themselves to be “self-made.” But these stories overlook a crucial ingredient of success: Luck. I

Drunk Shopping Census

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The 2019 Drunk Shopping Census What percentage of alcohol-consuming Americans shop drunk? How much do they spend? What do they buy?  By the time Justin Timberlake took the stage at the 2018 Super Bowl halftime show, Ryan Green was deep into his third bucket of IPAs at a local Vegas haunt. Maybe it was the buzz of the bitter hops, or the babel of the bar, or the pop star’s hypnotic timbre — but Green was feeling “tremendous.” At some point, he wandered into the full-capacity bathroom and Googled Timberlake’s tour dates on his phone. On a wet countertop, amid a sea of Brady jerseys with full bladders, he splayed out the contents of his wallet and secured two tickets — $165 apiece — to see JT in the flesh. “I woke up the next day and found a confirmation email I didn’t remember,” he says. A copy of Green’s receipt (courtesy of Ryan Green) Green is not alone. We recently ran a survey of more than 2,000 alcohol-consuming American adults and found that drunk shop