The Art of Making Your Own Luck: How Courage and Readiness Create Opportunity by Dr. Katrina Rodriguez

People sometimes look at your successful career and say, “Wow, you’re so lucky that worked out for you.”

They mean it as a compliment. But if you’ve built something meaningful, you know it wasn’t luck. It was the courage to take calculated risks, to pause, consider, and choose deliberately — even when the path wasn’t clear.

Over the years, I’ve talked with many professionals who wonder whether to pursue a new job, aim for a promotion, or even change careers entirely. We ask ourselves which choice will lead to more money, more responsibility, more happiness — and we worry about making the wrong move, as if one bad decision could derail everything.

That fear can paralyze us.

In my own career, I’ve relied on a process of preparation and courage: pausing to evaluate opportunities, assessing my readiness, and then moving forward — even when I wasn’t completely sure of the outcome. Some opportunities I sought out. Others came to me. But all of them required the same kind of thoughtful risk-taking.

When graduate students or early-career professionals ask how I “got here,” I tell them: I never had a five-year plan. My career was built one decision at a time — noticing openings, trusting my instincts, and being willing to stretch myself before I felt 100% ready.

What looks like “luck” to others was really readiness. Here’s one story that illustrates that.

The Leap That Redefined My Career

It was July 2004 when I got word that a professor in the graduate program I’d just completed was leaving for another university.

At that point, I had only taught one course in the program — while finishing my PhD and working full-time in a leadership role. I loved the experience. My students responded well. But I hadn’t thought about teaching full-time — until that professor’s departure opened a door.

Fall semester was right around the corner. I hesitated. Was I ready to take on a full teaching load? Did I have what it took? I paused and reflected. I had only one course under my belt, but I’d been leading workshops, training sessions, and giving conference presentations for nearly two decades. Teaching wasn’t entirely new to me. And I was deeply knowledgeable and passionate about the subject.

My intuition told me to go for it. I wrote to the department chair and proposed stepping into the role on a one-year, temporary appointment while they conducted a national search for a permanent hire. He agreed.

It came with a 20% pay cut. Financially, it was a gamble. But I believed in my ability to grow into the role — and I knew if it didn’t work out, I’d find my way back to something else.

Over the next seven years, I earned three teaching awards, was promoted to associate professor, and offered an assistant dean role. That one risk reshaped my career, built my confidence, and prepared me for the senior administrative roles I would later take on.

People called it “lucky.” But as my father used to say:

Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

Creating Your Own Luck

Throughout my 30+ years in higher education, from mid-level leader to vice president, I’ve reflected on that idea often. Opportunities rarely arrived with fanfare. Instead, they emerged subtly as open doors: a casual conversation, a colleague’s departure, a job posting.

• You have to notice them.

• You have to be ready to act.

• And you have to have the courage to say yes before you feel 100% ready.

Later in my career, I came across The Luck Factor by psychologist Richard Wiseman. His research confirms what I had instinctively lived out:

Lucky people aren’t simply “lucky” – they create their own good fortune. They do it by noticing opportunities, trusting their instincts, expecting good outcomes, and turning setbacks into learning. They insist on pausing and considering every aspect of their process.

In other words, luck is a mindset—and a skill.

The Courage to Pause and Consider

If you want to prepare yourself for luck — to recognize it and seize it when it comes — here are the strategies that worked for me:

1. Develop and Recognize Your Preparation

• Build your foundation of education, skills, and experience.

• Keep learning. Stay sharp. Be intellectually curious.

• Stay visible. Let people see what you bring to the table. Speak up. Share credit. Build a reputation for competence and generosity.

2. Notice the Opportunity

• Pay attention to the subtle openings around you.

• Build authentic relationships. Many doors open through trust and connection.

3. Make Courageous Decisions

• Consider opportunities even if they feel risky. Growth often happens in discomfort.

• Listen to your intuition — it’s the sum of your experience speaking.

• Say yes before you’re fully ready. Action builds confidence.

4. Proceed and Adapt

• Collaborate, learn, and adjust as you go.

• Treat setbacks as feedback, not failure. Resilience is part of the process.

5. Trust It Will Work Out

• Every experience strengthens your foundation for the next opportunity.

• Be intentional, but flexible. Prepare broadly so you’re ready for opportunities you can’t yet imagine.

You don’t have to wait for luck to find you. Position yourself so that when the right opportunity appears, you’ll see it — and you’ll be ready to grab it.

Here’s to your preparation. Here’s to your next opportunity. And here’s to your version of luck.