Hard work is a type of luck.

There are two types of luck.

One just happens. Like just walking down the street and you find 5 dollar on the curb. That's like what country you were born, may makes things easier or harder for you.

The second type of luck you have to buy a ticket to get a chance to win. Like the lottery, you can only win if you buy a ticket. That is your hard work, education etc. It enables you to be in the lucky draw and/or increases your chances, but still not guaranteed.

You're right! I recently landed a big client because I had done some work with them while working with an agency when in between jobs and their relationship fell through. They contacted me and being a fs dev (years of exp) I was able to pretty much take on all their work and eventually formed my own company around this.