Was visiting a older gentleman in my family whom I respect. He lives in a very beautiful area and his partner is just the nicest. He’s retired and spends his time fishing.
I was complimenting him and said. ‘You really are a lucky guy.’
he said ‘OH. I hate it when people say that. This was a plan and I worked hard’.
He then told me about how he worked for the same school district for 30 years! And got a pension and spent wisely.
Damn. 30 whole years.
health is a real crapshoot, i’ll give you that
But the rest of that list is behaviors and qualities you can cultivate. Intelligence isn’t some hard stat like the calculations-per-second in a computer, it’s a process of clear methodical thinking that is learned. How fast or slow you may think doesn’t limit how smart you can be. And a ‘skill’ is just a set of behaviors that have been refined with practice, you’re not born with them. Attitude is… harder, but it’s something you learn to work with as you get a better sense of the inputs and patterns behind it.
The ability to practice and cultivate useful attributes is also luck.