LUCK

It is a general belief that hard work alone doesn’t payoff and that luck is a factor for success. However, what can ensure success is, preparation with the right attitude, setting an inspired goal and working towards it despite the obstacles. Hence, I agree with Oprah Winfrey’s comment, “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity”.

Many argue that unless one is lucky, one cannot be successful in one’s life; no matter how hard one works. Here is an interesting story. There was a young journalist who had recently graduated from college. His first assignment was to cover Independence Day celebrations on a historical naval ship docked at a naval base. A few minutes into his coverage of the event, there was an earth quake and the ship started sinking. The people who were aboard the ship including the young journalist were able to get off to a safe ground. A few minutes later, the ship sank into the water. The young journalist felt that he was so unlucky to have missed the Independence Day celebration coverage. He was sad and called his best friend, who was also a young journalist from a different news channel. His friend pointed out to him that he had just missed on a great opportunity to report live on sinking historic ship. The young journalist wasn’t prepared enough to see a great opportunity hidden in a disadvantageous situation. 

Some argue that despite the right preparation and execution one may still not be successful as luck is missing in the equation. This is not true either as the cause of a failure indicates that, one or more essential factors didn’t get fulfilled. For example, when a rocket is being launched, a scientist ensures that all factors and principles are fully met before the launch. However, if the launch still fails then it shall be researched to identify the one petty factor that didn’t meet the needs and thus caused the failure. Once that parameter is corrected, the rocket is sure to launch successfully. In the same way, if one is unsuccessful then one needs to understand all the factors for failure, correct it and retry until successful. 

Hence, from the above facts it is abundantly clear that availing an opportunity at the right time with the right, attitude and preparation is often misconstrued as luck.