Predetermined success?

I know that my blog says that I am currently reading The Hour I First Believed, and I am, but I also have a couple of other books on the go. This is a result of forgetting one at work for the weekend and having to pick up another one.

I began reading The Outliers, and as a Malcolm Gladwell fan, I must say I'm enjoying it! I'm only about half way through, but the first chapter had me hooked! Malcolm, as always, puts more thought into things that merely just grace the rest of our minds. The book examines factors or circumstances that make people more successful than others, or in other words Outliers.

I don't want to spoil the book, but in the first chapter he researches great professional athletes and finds out that the one thing that they have in common is their birth dates. They are all born within the first 6 months of the year. Coincidence? Not really, it is all related to the registration age brackets and how developed they are compared to kids born later in the year.

This first chapter intrigued me. To think that your success is predetermined based on your age, birth date, your parents, etc is a little baffling to me and a lot to take in. Does this mean that no matter how hard some people try at being successful, in the end it might not make a difference?

I can't wait to finish it, and I already recommend this to anyone who read either Blink or The Tipping Point.