What Paul Newman Taught Me About Luck

I recently attended a fundraiser for the Double H Ranch, which is located in Lake Luzerne in the foothills of the Adirondacks. The Ranch was founded 30 years ago by Charles R. Wood and Paul Newman as a year-round camp to provide free, specialized programs to families with chronic and serious illness.

My family has been involved with the camp in different capacities since we moved to the Saratoga Springs area in 2012. My wife volunteered for the adaptive ski program for several years and I served on their finance committee. It is truly an amazing experience offered to these families by many talented and committed individuals donating their expertise and resources. We are very fortunate to have this camp just outside the capital region, as there are families who come to attend the camp from across the Northeast.

A Quote Worth Sitting With

At the fundraiser, their CEO, Alison Cox, spoke about her role at the camp and some of its founding principles. In her talk, she highlighted the following quote from the camp's co-founder, Paul Newman:

"I want to acknowledge luck, the benevolence of it in my life and the brutality of it in the lives of others."

I thought this quote was very compelling, and I think it says a lot about Paul Newman and his outlook on life.

Luck in the Lives of the Families We Serve

In my business, you see this quote play out across the many clients we serve. There are many families who are very successful and blessed in many ways, and they will acknowledge that it was hard work and a strong core of ethics that allowed it to happen. Most of them also acknowledge some element of good luck came into play throughout their life. In these situations, the good luck can compound itself and flow through to many areas of their life.

There are also those families that are struggling for different reasons, and many times it has nothing to do with their hard work or values, but they have been hit with several rounds of bad luck. It is also the case that the bad luck can compound and snowball into other areas of their lives.

Gratitude as a Guide

To me, the important takeaway from this quote is to have daily gratitude for everything we have in our lives. Our success is certainly because of our hard work and approach to life, but it is also due to our good fortune, and that can change at any point.

It is also a reminder to support those who are struggling in their lives. Appreciating that they also worked hard and had the right approach to life, but a spate of bad luck may have worked against them and caused some of the challenges life has dealt them.

Keeping this simple outlook on life clarifies how you should act in life and acts as a reminder to find ways to support individuals and families who are struggling. The actions of Paul Newman and Charles Wood to found this amazing camp provide a great road map on how this should be done.

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