Think with me and see if you know anyone like this...
Someone who works hard, maybe trying to make a career in the corporate world, or as a teacher, or in a free-lance profession (art, photography, music). Someone who "pays his/her dues," so to speak, grinding out each day in a job that's not exactly ideal for the long-term. This person tries to do all the right things that people in that career field do to land a good job but is still waiting for that big break.
Then it happens.
You might say it was luck. You might say it was an alignment of the stars. Maybe it was just that person's turn for one reason or another. Whatever your explanation, this person got his/her one big break. The breakthough performance that shot an artist into international fame. The job offer from the best company in their field that is almost too good to be true. The teaching position offer at a great school that's just down the street. "Wow, she is so lucky! Of course it would happen to her. When am I going to get my big break?!"
From an uniformed perspective, sometimes seeing this happen in someone else's life can be disgusting. You think they simply got lucky. "It's not fair," you say to yourself (or out loud).
But take a closer look. While there's no doubt people sometimes get "lucky" in life, a whole bunch of those "big breaks" that people catch in a career path aren't so much one big break, but the culmination of many smaller breaks along the way. And most of the time, it's not luck, but hard work and preparation that led to career success. There is something to be said about being in the right place at the right time, but what good does it do if you're not prepared?
One of my teachers shares a story of how he used to play marimba at a tiny bar in rural Kansas (I know, pretty weird, huh?) one night a week or so. He didn't get paid other than tips and free beverages. He did this for awhile, and one night he was playing a piece by J.S. Bach (again, kind of a funny picture for a bar in my opinion!). A patron enjoyed the piece and asked for another Bach piece. My teacher obliged. Again, the patron with the cowboy hat was pleased. More Bach, please. My teacher wound up playing all the Bach he knew twice through for this local man who couldn't seem to get enough of it.
The man approached the marimbist and said something to the effect of, "I own a recording studio and would like to make a CD of you playing marimba, and we'll split the profits."
What!?!?
So of course he said yes and recorded his first solo album which had a big impact in his career. The first time I heard this story, I thought exactly the thoughts mentioned above. "He's so lucky!"
But then I thought more about this peculiar story. First of all, he was lugging that giant instrument to a tiny bar once a week to play for no pay. And once he got there, he had to play something, so that means he had to know or be able to read a huge amount of music. And he likely wouldn't have impressed this man who approached him unless he played at a high level.
There are several things to learn from this. One, clearly the marimbist had put hours and hours of hard work in to be able to perform each week at a high level. He was prepared. Two, though I don't know the details, I bet you could trace back before this night and see a few small opportunities (or "breaks") that led to that point. Three, while the CD recording was successful and helped propel his career forward, it, too, was another break along the way.
So for those of us waiting for our big break, maybe we ought to just focus on the small opportunities we have, put all the effort we can into each one, and one day we'll look back and see how all the small breaks added up to the success we hoped for in the one big break.
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