Luck

It was mid December. I had a meeting with a prospective customer, but before we left the office I gathered my partners. “Guys, we are running out of money, we have enough to pay employees until the end of December, but not us. If nothing is sold in the next two weeks, we’ll be shutting down in January.” With that we left for our customer meeting.

We were pitching a new idea and it was the most expensive proposal we had put out there - a ‘hail Mary’ if you will. The meeting was going well, but I wasn’t sure what would come of it. “Well, I like the proposal, and I think we are interested, but I have one problem”- I knew what was coming and already started thinking about what I’d do after this gig ended – “our budget year ends at the end of December, if we do this, I have to pay you all up front for everything before the end of the month – is that ok?” I am sorry, WHAT? I gathered my composure “I am sure we can accommodate that”, I said with my best, faked, professional tone.

I went into that meeting expecting nothing, and that one deal ended up saving our company. We got lucky.

Luck happens, yes, but I don’t believe it’s random, or that it’s mystically doled out on an unequal basis. I asked a friend yesterday if she ever thought about luck and without skipping a beat she responded “opportunity meets preparedness” (she’s a consultant by trade – can you tell?). Evidently its something they tell their kids. If you want to be lucky, be prepared and look for opportunity.

It is said there is something about ‘the luck of the Irish’. I am not sure how that fits with the whole potato famine thing, but I will give them U2, and Guiness Beer.

I figure, if someone has the tenacity and patience to look through a whole field of clover to find that one mutant four leaf one – then there’s a pretty good chance other ‘luck’ might come their way. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.