What’s luck got to do with it?
What's luck got to do with it?
I was walking over the Farmer Market Saturday morning and casually recapping the week in my head. I was fortunate to meet a pretty good group of students from the University of Montana Business School, Yes…The Harvard of the West. The class is something that is relatively new as it’s only in its third year. The class comes out to the Portland and Seattle and meets with various different businesses that have alumni from the University working for them or owns them. The class is basically one big networking event for the students to get insights into what it takes to work for of these companies (2 of them are on the100 best companies to work for list). As I was headed over to the market I got to thinking about luck…to be more specific how much luck really had to do with your success. I picked up a quote somewhere that I like to use that says “luck is when preparation meets opportunity” And while is still believe that is true, I still pose the question, how much does luck really have to do with it? I can remember when I was looking for my first job, and my second for that matter, and what I thought I had to offer an employer. I still feel pretty much the same that is my attitude, desire to win, coach-ability, and just plain ol’ common sense. But again, was me getting to where I am today more of just being at the right place and right time? I look at many of my friends and see their success and would say they are talented and motivated, but when they started off did they get those one or two “lucky breaks” to make it were they are today? Of course if you pile on the “Great Recession” we’re currently in, most of todays college grads are probably scared to death of entering the work force…and rightly so. However, looking through my rather optimistic lens I’d say that in order to succeed you need to be motivated, have a competitive advantage, and sprinkle in some stubbornness just for good measure, and then hope to god that just maybe some luck does come your way.
Cheers,
Adam, I couldn’t agree more. Luck is something you have to work for. And once an opportunity presents itself, you need to have the mojo to run with it.
The ability to recognize that you have the mojo is through experience, and I find that’s I were a lot of young people sell themselves short.