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How “Black Swan Events” Change Our Lives — for Good and Bad
These random events are the direct cause of our triumphs and troubles. Here’s how to stack the odds in your favor.
The talented sperm I came from beat a hundred million other sperm in the race to fertilize my mother’s egg. That makes me a unique one-in-a-hundred-million man.
You are equally unique.
I was born to a happily married couple in the USA as a white, middle-class male. I’m genetically healthy and mentally sound.
Like you, I’ve had my ups and downs, yet I’ve learned I can take zero credit for my existential fortunes and failures. Zero. Everything good and bad happens to me, not because of me.
The same goes for you.
Think about it … we didn’t choose our parents, birthplace, or genetics. We had no input on where we grew up or who gave us our education. We couldn’t have predicted the cancer that grew quietly as it spread to our bones. Likewise, we couldn’t ignore the teacher who showed us the magnificence of the arts and sciences that inspired passion in our careers.
The path of our lives directly results from a series of random events we can neither predict nor control. These life-changing moments are called…
