The ability to be successful in life does not come down to luck or even the superiority of talent.  The ability to obtain success comes down to the ability to recognize opportunities at critical junctures in your life, and the ability to exploit these opportunities as they are made available.  Success is derived from identifying and pursuing goals that are simple, consistent & long term.  Success is found in being able to understand the environment in which you must operate.  Success is obtained by maintaining an objective appraisal of the resources that are available to you.  Finally, success is achieved by effective implementation of the goals, environment and resources in an overall strategy to move yourself ahead.  Success is seldom the outcome of a purely random process.  Commitment, consistency and determination are the straightforward and simple elements of success.

– My take-away from my reading for my strategy class today.  I find a lot of wisdom is embedded here.