A lot of parents tell their children that can achieve anything if they work hard and apply themselves. But that doesn't account for luck, which is a huge factor that many highly successful people have said they owe their careers to, points out Anthony Mackie, star of the 2025 movie "Captain America: Brave New World."

"We are lying to our kids," Mackie, 46, said in a recent interview with The Pivot Podcast. "We tell [them] … if they do right and they make the good grades and they go to the programs, they will become successful. 'If you work hard enough, your work will [pay off].' And that's not true."

In many cases, "success is given [and] not earned," Mackie continued.

Mackie had been an actor for over 10 years before landing the role that many consider his big break, as Sam Wilson in 2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," he said. After graduating from the prestigious Juilliard School in 2001, he performed in both on- and Off-Broadway productions and in Academy award-winning films, like 2008's "The Hurt Locker." However, the New Orleans native struggled to break out in Hollywood's highly competitive landscape.

Mackie estimates he "put in 10,750 hours of training" before landing that life-changing job. He was proactive, too: He wrote letters to executives at Disney's Marvel Studios over a decade ago in the hopes of landing a role in one of the studio's popular superhero films, he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023.

While the letters didn't result in any roles right away, Mackie eventually landed a meeting with directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. They offered him a part in an upcoming film, though they couldn't share many details: "[They said], 'We can't say what character you're playing or who else is going to be in it. Would you do it?'" Mackie said.

The actor agreed because he liked the directors and believed joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe was an opportunity he couldn't pass up, he said. Fortunately for Mackie, the role of Sam Wilson proved popular enough to grow from a small character into a headliner.

Work matters, but so do 'luck' and 'timing'

Mackie is far from the only successful person to recognize the power of luck. You can be the smartest and most deserving person in the room, the billionaire and Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger told students at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business in 2018, but there are no guarantees: "There's also a factor of luck that comes into this thing."

He added: "I did not intend to get rich. I wanted to get independent. I just overshot."

Similarly, in 2023, Mark Cuban told GQ that any billionaire who says they could definitely start over from scratch is "lying their a-- off." That's because a person also needs "luck" and good "timing" to run a highly lucrative company, particularly in the fast-moving tech industry.

If he'd been born three years earlier, he likely wouldn't have the status that he has today, Cuban added.

Put simply, being in the right place at the right time, and having connections, can be as important as having the skills and experience.

How to benefit from luck

People who benefit from luck the most have a few traits in common, according to Richard Wiseman, author of "The Luck Factor" and a psychology professor at the University of Hertfordshire.

1. They're optimistic. Even when they find themselves in bleak circumstances, "lucky" people recognize that things "could have been far worse," Wiseman wrote for CNBC Make It in 2022.
2. They always jump at new opportunities. Lucky people display an openness and adaptability that puts them in situations to network and make new connections, according to Wiseman.
3. They listen to their intuition. Too much time spent pondering can lead to "indecision," he added, writing that lucky people tend to "make quick decisions …. By trusting their gut, they're more likely to take action and expose themselves to new opportunities."
4. They recover quickly from setbacks. This allows lucky people to remain positive when things don't go how they'd hoped and "increases the likelihood of them continuing to live a lucky life," according to Wiseman.

Embodying these four traits can help put you in a better position to make your goals a reality, he added.

The second and third traits in particular helped Mackie, who, in 2025, became a new face of the "Captain America" franchise, once led by former co-star Chris Evans.

"When you're given a huge opportunity like that, you have to take into consideration that you might fail," Mackie said. At first he was afraid, but he didn't let that stop him. He had a network of mentors and supporters who could help, he realized: "I had to lean on those teachers and the people around me who got me to that point."

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