Luck - Where Opportunity meets Preparation
Quick fire questions -
You are driving your car through a local neighborhood and see a Single Family house up for sale. Priced at $650,000
Do you buy it?
Maybe that question would catch you off guard - but I believe we should have an answer for that question already prepared.
Luck - Where Opportunity meets Preparation
Lets break this idea down.
Opportunity can walk straight past you and you may not know that you missed out. Preparation will help give you the ability to see opportunities in the first place and the mental, physical abilities to deal with them after they occur.
No Preparation, Lost Opportunity
Janet has worked in real estate for a few years. Scrolling through dog pictures on Facebook, taking her son Toby to Soccer practice and her new boyfriend are her main focus most days. The job pays the bills and it doesn’t do much more for her than that.
James is a high performing real estate professional was at the charity dinner, with the exact knowledge that would take Janet to the next level in income. But she didn’t know about this aspect of real estate, therefore didn’t talk extensively to him. They exchanged courtesies and carried on about themselves.
Michael is a high ranking employee at an international Soccer Academy. Janet didn’t realize how Academies worked and how competitive they were. When Janet met Michael at a birthday party, she didn’t realize the importance of what he could do for her son and she did not aggressively pursue Michael in helping her son.
Both lost Opportunities.
Preparation, Realized Opportunity
In an alternative Universe the same scenarios could have played out by;
Janet has worked in real estate for a few years. She is motivated by the other agents that she works with. She sees their Audi’s and BMW’s and wants to elevate her family. She is busy with taking her son Toby to Soccer training, work in the day and studying for her Real Estate exams at night. She is interested into moving into commercial real estate as she’s heard that market is picking up.
James, a high performing real estate professional was at the charity dinner, with the exact knowledge that would take Janet to the next level in income. Janet has read his blog posts and has seen him around town. Immediately recognizing him, she corners him at the vol-au-vent station and pushes to work for him. James concedes and Janet starts flying through her career.
Michael, a high ranking employee at an international Soccer Academy. When Janet met Michael at a birthday party, she realized what Michael could potentially do for her son. Janet spent a good deal of time talking to Michael and point blank asked how her son could get into the Academy.
Luck
The same scenarios, but two different executions.
Preparation first gives you the lenses to see opportunities when they present themselves. To the untrained eye, they go unnoticed.
When preparation meets opportunity and is executed upon - that is what people call luck.