50% you can affect.
50% you cannot affect.
You can work as hard as you want, make contacts, try. But if the latter 50% is not woking in your favour, you can try as you like, but you will never make it. You can try again and again, but it will fail again and again.
But for others, they may not even try 10% of the 50% you can affect, but the other 50% works for them. They will win no matter if they try or not. Even just 1%.
So, life can be unfair. That's why you never listen to naysayers - you choose your direction, yet never go against your self respect. That's the only thing that matters in the entire world.
This is a very wise philosophy, based in realism.