“Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.” -Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s

Some think others are famous or successful, because they were lucky. They see the end results, but not the hard work, sweat, and even tears that came first. They see the confetti and not the grunt work. They see the highlight reel and not the real moments behind the scenes.

Writers put ideas onto paper. Readers see the finished product wrapped in a beautiful cover; black ink printed on pages filled with a masterpiece of a story. They don’t see what the writer initially had to overcome:  hours of writing and editing, writer’s block, rejection after rejection from publishing houses, and doubt that anyone would actually buy and read their work.

Will every writer become a bestselling author? Will everyone who works hard become successful? No, but the combination of hard work and taking advantage of every opportunity can get you closer to achieving your goals. To some, it might seem that you’re lucky, but you’ll just know all the hard work you’ve put into your business or art is finally coming into fruition.