The real truth is, it just our perspective.  It is how we see from the lens we are using.  But … that does not mean that we are seeing it from an accurate lens.

Have you ever watched someone launch a business that just seemed to be an instant success?  Or hear of a book that seemed to be a best seller immediately?  How many times I have watched someone else and thought, “why is it always so easy for them”.  Be careful my friend, because that is not the whole view.

One of my favourite type of books to read are biographies.  Why?  Because they remind me of real stories, of real people, doing real things.  Often they include so much more of a life story than we see at first glance.  

For instance –

~  Steve Jobs was fired from Apple before he was hired back and became CEO.  We only see Apple’s success but often forget about the times Jobs was working out of his garage.

~ Michael Jordan missed over 9000 shots in his career. He lost almost 300 games.  26 times he missed the shot that would have been the winning shot, and that his coaches and teammates were counting on him for.  We probably think he just had natural talent, but in reality, it was years of practice and failure that made him a star.

~ Walt Disney dropped out of school and failed to get into the army.  One of his first businesses put him into bankruptcy due to poor business sense or ability.  He was fired from another job for not being creative enough.  

~ Picasso painted over 5,000 paintings.  How many of those do you know about?

~ The first Harry Potter book was rejected by twelve publishers.  J.K. Rowling was at the time a single Mom, living on welfare and had clinical depression.  The publisher that did accept her book told her not to quit her day job as they did not think she would make much money as an author.

Still, think it is due to luck?

Sure, absolutely, some people have some “luck”.  But let me reassure you, that is not how they got to where they are.    What got them there was taking the next step.  Some people have to take more than others, some have to go back down to the bottom of the stairs and begin again, and some have to repeat the last step a few times.  But believe me, they took some steps.  

Just imagine for a minute if Steve Jobs had given up when he was working in his garage.  Think about how different our access to information and connecting with others would be now.  Personally, as I facetime with my children and grandkids during this global pandemic, I am so grateful he kept moving forward.  

Confidence is a tricky thing to think about alongside of luck.  Many of us think that confidence comes from just knowing that we will be good, or succeed, at something.

Not even close.

Confidence comes from clarity.  

Clarity of where you have come from and how that impacts your present.

Clarity of where you are today and the negative stories that hold you back.

Clarity of who you want to be and where you want to go.

The clarity will give you the confidence to know where you are going and why, and that you have what you need to show up as a fearless version of you.

It will give you a filter to know the boundaries of when to say yes and when to say no.

It will give the discovery of your unique purpose seen in your core values and God-given passions.

Clarity that it will not be perfect but you can take each step towards the best version of you.

The clarity that builds confidence because you know where you are going and why.

Can you feel it?

It’s not luck.  It is the confidence to keep going because you know you can get there.  It doesn’t matter when, it just matters that you keep moving.

You may find some “luck” along the way, but only because you are already taking the steps and have the clarity.  

Movement builds confidence.  Luck does not.