“Chance favors the Prepared Mind” – Louis Pasteur
We’ve all heard that saying but often do not know who originally said it.
I think that saying is somewhat misleading.
Taken out of context.
The entire quote is actually quite different: “Where observation is concerned, chance favors the prepared mind.”
People have mostly heard only the last part of that quote. Be prepared and when luck presents an opportunity not only will you notice it, but be able to act on it.
That misses the observation part. Observation is extremely important – without doing a good job of observing to recognize the opportunity, preparation is meaningless. Both observation and preparation go together.
There was a study where people were asked to consider themselves lucky or unlucky. They were asked to look through an old-fashioned newspaper and count the photos. This study was conducted by psychologist Richard Wiseman from the University of Hertfordshire in the UK.
The results are interesting. The people who viewed themselves as unlucky examined the newspaper for about two minutes. They went through the newspaper, page by page.
The people who said they were lucky only spent a few seconds on the task.
The “lucky” people were as or more accurate in the photo as the “unlucky.”
The difference? On page two of the newspaper, these words appeared: “Stop counting – There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.”
Without observation being prepared doesn’t account for much.
People are lucky because they pay close attention to situations and recognize the opportunities as they occur. People can’t necessarily create the situation but they can act on it when it comes up. Because they recognize the opportunity.
The luck comes from the situation occurring. Perhaps you can’t control that.
The observation occurs when you recognize the situation and the opportunity it presents. Paying attention is a big part of this.
Preparedness comes into play when you use your skills to act on the opportunity.
