Luck vs Destiny: The Strange Coincidences That Made Ordinary People Wealthy

Most people believe success is built through planning, discipline, and relentless effort. And on the surface, that sounds sensible. Hard work feels fair. Strategy feels logical. Control feels comforting.

But when you look closely at real lives that dramatically changed course, something unsettling appears.

A coincidence.
A delay.
An interruption that should not have mattered.

Yet without that moment, the outcome probably wouldn’t have happened.

This raises a question many people quietly avoid.

Is success really just luck?
Is it destiny playing favourites?
Or is something more subtle at work here?

The Coincidences That Quietly Open Doors

Consider Howard Schultz.

Before Starbucks became a global brand, it was a modest business selling coffee beans and equipment. Schultz didn’t travel to Italy looking for a billion-dollar idea. He simply went on a business trip.

While there, he noticed something that others walked straight past. Coffee shops were not just places to buy drinks. They were social spaces. Cultural hubs. A third place between home and work.

Millions of people visit Italy every year.
Very few return and reimagine an entire culture.

The coincidence wasn’t the trip.
It was what he noticed while everyone else consumed and moved on.

Or take J.K. Rowling.

The idea for Harry Potter did not come from a carefully planned writing retreat. It arrived during a delayed train journey. Four hours of waiting. No distractions. No agenda.

Most people experience delays and feel frustrated. Rowling allowed her mind to stay open rather than get busy.

The delay didn’t create her talent.
It created the space where something could enter.

When Bad Luck Becomes Redirection

Some coincidences arrive disguised as failure.

Early in her career, Oprah Winfrey was fired from her job as a television news anchor. She was told she was not suitable for the role. Too emotional. Too expressive.

At the time, it felt like rejection. Like bad luck.

In reality, it removed her from a format that punished her strengths and placed her on a path that rewarded them. Daytime talk television did not yet exist as she would later define it. She didn’t plan it. She fitted it when it appeared.

The firing didn’t make her successful.
It freed her from the wrong lane.

The same pattern appears in the story of Steve Jobs.

Being removed from Apple was humiliating and destabilising at the time. Yet the exile forced him to refine his thinking, his design philosophy, and his leadership style. When he returned, Apple was transformed.

Many moments we call bad luck are simply interruptions to identities that no longer fit.

The Real Difference Between Luck and Destiny

So, where does that leave the debate?

Luck suggests randomness.
Destiny suggests inevitability.

Neither explanation fully satisfies.

Look at Ray Kroc.

He was not young. He was not wealthy. He was selling milkshake machines when he encountered the McDonald brothers. Thousands of salespeople meet restaurant owners every year.

What mattered was not the meeting.
It was the interpretation.

Kroc saw scale where others saw a small operation. The coincidence gave him access. His mindset decided the outcome.

Or consider Sara Blakely.

Her idea came from a moment of irritation while getting dressed. Millions of people are annoyed by clothing. Very few ask why the solution doesn’t exist and then decide to create it.

Readiness Is the Missing Factor

Here is the pattern that connects all of these stories.

The moments were small.
The signals were quiet.
The outcomes were delayed.

These people didn’t wait for certainty.
They didn’t dismiss the moment as meaningless.
They leaned in.

Luck is often the word people use when they don’t understand the process. Destiny is the word people use when they don’t want to take responsibility for their actions.

Readiness explains far more.

Two people can experience the same coincidence. One walks past it. The other builds a life from it.