Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.
Oprah Winfrey
Over the course of our lives, we get more than one opportunity to accomplish our objectives. What ultimately sets one person apart from another is what they make of these chances.
Planning is key to success. In order to get somewhere in life, you need to know where you wish to be. It is hard to picture a person getting very far in life without a proper roadmap to get there. That is why almost everyone, from ancient philosophers to present-day leadership coaches, emphasize the need for planning and setting the right goals. Once you have a well-defined roadmap for your future, it is equally important to make the most of the chances that come your way.
Luck or fate is still a fairly polarizing subject; some see it as critical to success or failure, whereas others disregard it as something purely philosophical. From a logical standpoint, luck is merely a matter of accepting the opportunities one gets. Think about this: what is the point of making elaborate plans when one is unable to make the most of the chances life so generously bestows upon them? Likewise, without a clarity of mind about which direction one wishes to head in, even a golden opportunity is as good as not having one. And that is what luck is all about – the combination of these two critical elements.
In this respect, every successful man is “lucky” in that he had the farsightedness to think ahead of his peers and the tactical acumen to grab his chances; his success was neither an overnight stroke of luck nor a rags-to-riches story, but rather a combination of his planning and commitment. And that is the action plan that every person who aspires to make it big in life should seek to emulate.
Oprah Gail Winfrey, popularly known as Oprah Winfrey, is an American actress and author. Best known for her Chicago-based talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey once said: “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.” It is noteworthy that this quote is also commonly attributed to the Roman philosopher, Lucius Annaeus Seneca.