“Luck is the intersection of where preparation and opportunity meet”. This quote has always stuck with me. I think Benjamin Franklin said it. Whenever I consider this little nugget of wisdom, it reminds me of my best friend Manoli. I have long considered him the luckiest person I know. Successful business owner, entrepreneur, excessively wealthy, charismatic personality that draws people to him. He is the guy who always wins the NCAA bracket, who always picks the right stock, who always meets the right people. He is the one person I know who always seems to land on his feet. It’s been this way since we were kids. Perhaps you also know someone like that. Someone who always catches the lucky break, or aces the exam, or gets that interview, or meets exactly the right person who helps them get a great internship or fellowship. Well, I have come to the realization that this type of ubiquitous success cannot simply be written off as just dumb luck. What often lies just below the surface is a pattern of activity that is easily overlooked, but profoundly important. More often than not, these lucky people who seem to effortlessly conjure good fortune are busy behind the scenes. They are putting in the hard work; they are studying for the exam; they are networking with the right people; they are researching and learning and taking risks and doing all of the things (ie preparation) that lead to the so called lucky breaks (ie opportunities) the rest of us covet. My pal Manoli; sure, he may have been blessed with some good luck. But it wasn’t luck that made him get up at 5am every day in 6th grade to start saving money by delivering newspapers. Luck wasn’t behind his working 25 hours a week during high school at a local health club while the rest of us were busy doing who-knows-what. And it wasn’t luck that helped him secure the financial investors who helped him open his own health club and launch his own supplement line. The foundation of his success is based on hard work, networking, research, sacrifice, relationship building, passion, and goal-setting. His success was not an accident. Sure, there were some fortunate scenarios that he encountered, but many of them were only made possible because he created the environment for them to occur. Each of us has the ability to position ourselves to be both successful and create our own luck, so to speak. However, it takes work, planning, and passion.
Jeff Sackaroff
University Career Services