It would be survivorship bias if the conclusion drawn was &quot;if you have grit and perseverance, you&#x27;ll succeed&quot;. That&#x27;s not what I&#x27;ve gotten out of any book ever, it was always &quot;these traits allowed me to take advantage of this opportunity that presented itself&quot;.<p>It&#x27;s about developing skills and traits that would make you more likely to succeed should an opportunity present itself, or to help you realize an opportunity has presented itself.<p>There is no magic formula. There is no trait or skill that will guarantee success, but for every success story there is something that allowed them to take advantage of the cards they were dealt that without they would have been unable to.