Is Luck the Answer?

I read an article recently by a woman named Lori and it was entitled, "The Older I get, the Less I Believe in Luck." She made a lot of good points which makes sense since she is a "Certified Life coach, an educator, and an empowerment advocate."

Many, many years ago I heard an interview with the Hall of Fame football player, Roger Staubach who played for The Dallas Cowboys. As a Giant fan, the Cowboys are one of my least favorite teams, but  he is my favorite Dallas Cowboy.  He said that you have to be prepared and ready when opportunity comes about.  After football he built a very successful commercial real estate business which he sold in 2008 for over 600 million dollars.

In the article, Lori said that she now believes, "What I once called luck, I now recognize as preparation, persistence, and courage." Here are a few of her comments I loved:

"What we often call luck is usually something much deeper. It's preparation meeting opportunity. It's persistence surviving long enough to see results. It's courage showing up when fear stays home." 

I recently finished an incredible biography on Richard Branson the British billionaire and how he started his company which is spread across 35 other countries and he had a lot of courage and persistence throughout most of his career.

"From the outside people see the result, rarely do they see the journey."

I remember hearing the story of the great Liberace who was signing autographs and someone yelled out, "I would give anything to succeed like you." Liberace replied, "I did."  The results are only part of the story.

"The older I get, the more I see that life rewards people who keep showing up. Many people quit when results don't come quickly."

Thomas Edison failed 10-14,000 times to discover the lightbulb, but he kept going.

"Believing in luck can be dangerous. It can convince us that our future depends on circumstances that we don't control."

One of the most powerful forces in the world is choice.  People can choose to change their circumstances and I've personally spoken to many people who have done it.

"I spend less time hoping for luck and more time preparing for opportunity." 

 What opportunity are you preparing for today or this month?