This incorrectly assumes that people are self-aware about how much their genetics / environment contributed to their success (they are not) but also misses the fact that lots of people work very hard at things without success.
When I think of my singular biggest external achievement, I worked my ass off for it. But no amount of hard work by someone who didn't have some of the advantages I have would have gotten them anywhere close to it. The second part of that comes up approximately never when people ask me about it, I always emphasise the tremendous amount of gut-busting work it took, because that's the part I'm proud of. All that said, I've worked just as hard (maybe harder?) on some things that came to nothing.
When I think of my singular biggest external achievement, I worked my ass off for it. But no amount of hard work by someone who didn't have some of the advantages I have would have gotten them anywhere close to it. The second part of that comes up approximately never when people ask me about it, I always emphasise the tremendous amount of gut-busting work it took, because that's the part I'm proud of. All that said, I've worked just as hard (maybe harder?) on some things that came to nothing.