Luck vs Hard Work

Day 105 / 366

While watching reels on Instagram today I came across many examples of these super popular influencers who have gone viral and have been able to monetize their fame.

For instance, take Dolly Chaiwala. This guy was a meme a few years back. And now he has met Bill Gates and is probably earning in crores per month.

Many people take his example to dunk on people who choose a more conventional way of succeeding in life. They get good grades in school and get a college degree and a job. Some even conclude that what is the point of working hard if all you have to do to succeed these days is make a fool out of yourself on social media?

That last line feels a bit harsh to me, as Dolly Chaiwala and many influencers like him are genuinely trying to showcase their style and talent. It’s just that a lot of the time they get viral not because of their talent but because what they do is considered weird or cringe.

To people thinking that the way to success is through being cringy and weird online, I would say that they are ignoring the lakhs of people who try this and fail. There are loads of other street food vendors who try to sing or dance or act or curse as they make their food to try and make their content go viral. And we never hear about them.

And I would also say that even if these people got lucky, it doesn't mean that they did not work hard. If you go back and look at their old content, you will find several videos with not even 1000 views. They kept making content even when they were not getting an audience. They persisted till they got lucky.