Editor’s note: This article was first published in January 2013. Irving Kahn is described as still trading every morning at 107; he died in 2015, aged 109. Emilio Botín died in 2014. The present-tense references to both are from 2013.
Depending on the month you’re born in, you’ll have more or fewer opportunities in life (more or less success), you’ll be more prone to certain illnesses, and even your profession and salary will be all but predetermined. Those are the conclusions reached in a scientific study by Russell G. Foster, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford.
I’ve always thought that believing you’re conditioned or marked by some factor (call it destiny) can even be dangerous. People who think everything is in their favour don’t make an effort and end up failing (and then blame bad luck). And people who think everything is against them: why would they try, if it’s written somewhere that they won’t make it? Horoscopes, astrological charts and, in this case, scientific studies should be ignored, because none of them take into account that willpower outranks the constellations, and that in the end we’re the ones who shape our own destiny.
It’s true that we may be born into families with less money or fewer resources, but that doesn’t decide our future. It only tells us that we’ll have to work a little harder and probably fight with more drive than those who have the constellations or their birth month on their side. We’ll debunk this study with very specific cases, since Foster hasn’t taken chance into account.
The research showed that the month we’re born in helps determine the profession we choose, among other things. Athletes are born in September, doctors in January, artists in February and musicians in March. The ones who come off worst in this study are those born between October and December, as they tend to have worse jobs and lower salaries, and people born in December tend to live shorter lives.
Just ask Irving Kahn, the longest-lived broker in the history of the financial markets, a disciple of Benjamin Graham who still trades every morning at the age of 107. He was born on 19 December, more than a century ago.
Bill Gates was born on 28 October, the same month as Emilio Botín, so being born in the last quarter isn’t so bad after all.
Athletes are supposedly born in September, yet Leo Messi was born on 24 June and Cristiano Ronaldo on 5 February.
Warren Buffett was born on 30 August and George Soros on 12 August, so this month seems to attract success, especially considering that Barack Obama and Sergey Brin (Google) were also born in August, while his partner Larry Page was born in March, like Amancio Ortega.
If we go through the Forbes list of the highest-paid executives in the United States, or the list of the 100 richest men in the world, we’ll find birthdays in every month of the year, December included.
Conclusion: it doesn’t matter where or when you’re born. What matters is where you’re headed once you’re here, and how much effort you’re willing to put in to reach your personal and professional goals.
Further reading
- Talent: are you born with it or is it made?
- How to overcome “if only I had…” (a great enemy of success)
- Chasing a dream: 10 traits of entrepreneurs
Featured image: George M. Groutas, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
