“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” (Thomas Edison)

Originally published April 22, 2016

This quotation is often attributed to Thomas Edison. It does sound like something he would have said.

But there’s no substantive evidence that links him to the expression, though you will often see his name following the quotation. Others have been suggested.

But the most likely candidate for giving us the quotation is Anonymous. Anonymous has given us many excellent quotations.

The premise of the quotation is simple. That there are very few shortcuts to success.

That success is nearly always the result of work. Sometimes a lot of work. Sometimes for a long time.

But the bigger point of the quotation is that people often miss an opportunity when it’s presented—because the work required makes the opportunity seem less appealing.

Success is not usually the result of luck

A common belief is that success is often the result of serendipity or kismet.

The classic lucky break. Just happening to be at the right place at the right moment.

Little more than that.

But this is not only faulty reasoning—it’s flagrantly untrue. Few people achieve success without hard work. And with determination that would make most of us dizzy.

How many of us would lie on our backs painting a ceiling for five years as Michelangelo did?

How determined would we be to find the right filament for a light bulb, as Edison was?

J.K. Rowling was writing up to 11 hours every day in the early period of the Harry Potter series.

I read an article recently of a man (Luca Iaconi-Stewart) who is constructing a scale model of an Air India Boeing 777 entirely out of manilla file folders. Seriously.

The model is impressive enough. But it’s not so easy to appreciate the volume of work required to produce it. The project is in its ninth year. And has required endless hours studying photographs, diagrams, and technical drawings.

It wasn’t enough to conceive the idea. It required painstaking years of attention to fine detail to make it happen.

Success is usually the result of work

Nearly all success in life is the result of work.

It can be misleading to see the finished product without knowing the work that preceded it. The work that made it possible.

The great Roman philosopher, Seneca said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

Now, whether you believe in luck or not, Seneca had an excellent point.

That success tends to be more likely when preparation precedes the opportunity.

It’s easy to see that opportunity without preparation goes nowhere. And that preparation without opportunity is disheartening. But though we cannot guarantee opportunity–we can devote ourselves to preparation. And let opportunity run its own show.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circumstances. Real men believe in cause and effect.”

I would submit that the next time you hear opportunity calling you, realize the hard work that will be required for success.

Don’t respond to the opportunity under the delusion that little work will be required.

But don’t miss the opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Realize that work is just part of the deal.

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