You are unlucky because you are not prepared

Are you a generally unlucky person? Do you seem to miss opportunities? Many unlucky people never realize that the reason they are unlucky is because of them, not fate.

I once heard someone say that luck is preparedness meeting opportunity. They said that they were very lucky. But the only reason they could capitalize on that luck was because they already did the work.

Coach John Wooden echoes that sentiment in his book Wooden – A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court. He says, “The time to prepare isn’t after you have been given the opportunity. It’s long before that opportunity arises. Once the opportunity arrives, it’s too late to prepare.”

Years ago, I met a golfer who was incredibly talented. He was the best player I have ever met. As I talked to him, I inquired if he was trying to use that talent to make a career out of golf.

He said that it would take too many hours of practice. He didn’t want to do all that and then end up failing, wasting that time.

But without doing that difficult preparation, opportunity never really came for him. He tried entering a couple tournaments and did well but didn’t follow it up with increased performance.

He got to a certain level, which was very close to elite, and then stopped. He plateaued. He didn’t want to put in the work unless he knew for sure that he would make it.

How many of us do the same thing? We say we aren’t lucky. Yet we haven’t done what is needed to capitalize on those opportunities. We don’t do the work until we are guaranteed it will pay off.

Those who put in the work and prepare for their opportunity tend to eventually get lucky. They get the big break. They get the chance to prove themselves with the best of the best. They get a lead role.

That is an opportunity. But without the preparedness, they would never be able to take advantage of that opportunity.

Luck exists. There are many unexplained coincidences in life. We have to have a way to label those. So, we call them luck.

But what we don’t see, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Just because we can't explain it doesn’t mean there isn’t an explanation.

Therefore, if you want to succeed, you have to do the hard work up front. You have to be willing to put in the hours before success is guaranteed. Without it, we will not be prepared and never have the chance to become elite.