Peak Creative Zone
Peak performance strategies to help you get inspired and be more creative

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Seneca

Well are you ready? What kind of luck are you waiting for?
What are the opportunities you are wanting to fall into your lap like manna from heaven?

Do you want to know how to get lucky?

Let me share a story with you about luck.

I was invited to a concert by a beau and not just any concert mind you, but the last Australian concert given by the one of the greatest tenors the world has known… Pavarotti! Yes that’s right, THE Luciano Pavarotti! Lucky girl you might say. Well yes, I was feeling quite fortunate because this was a once in a lifetime experience. Pavarotti tickets don’t come cheap and even though my boyfriend had lashed out and invested a significant chunk of the average Aussie’s weekly wage on the tickets, we were lucky to get seats way up in the bleachers – almost at the very last row at the almost furthest point from the stage at Rod Laver Arena. No matter, I had dressed to the nine’s in a claret silk evening gown, and my man had suited up. Quite the handsome pair.

We took our seats up in the bleachers. From that distance, Pavarotti really did appear penguin-like upon the stage. Yet his voice not only filled the stadium, it consumed it. I was enthralled. I could just make out his gestures so I closed my eyes to absorb the music.

Lady Luck appears

At interval we were sipping our champagne in the foyer and feeling rather formal amongst the other more casually dressed bleacher seat companions. We were deep in conversation when a dashingly handsome though somewhat harried man approached us and said, “You two look the gorgeous couple, where are you sitting?”. “Up at the back,” my beau replied. The dashingly handsome man then said , “Well I have been called away, I can’t stay.. Here are my tickets, for row G on the floor. Would you like them? Please take them. Enjoy.. “ He pushed the tickets into my hand and he was away. He left the building and us, mouths open and staring at the tickets.

Hard to believe but we had just been given the best seats in the house, row G on the floor, a mere seven rows from the front and centre to the stage. Lady Luck had just made a visitation in the shape of the dashing stranger.

We stepped back in from interval early and made our way to our new seats amongst the pearls, furs and silks of the other audience members in this the Premium seating zone.

The Magnificent Luciano Pavarotti

It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life, only a few meters away from arguably the greatest tenor on earth, every heave of breath, every bead of sweat, the characteristic white handkerchief in hand, every note trembling through my body like a freight train made of finest silk – all thunder and caress at once. I engraved that night upon my memory as if to preserve it to relish again and again. Pavarotti’s singing was like being made love to by a lover who had known you a thousand years and was touching you as if for the first time, unleashing upon you a torrent of passion and desire.

Were we just lucky? In my view, we were prepared. Had we not dressed up as if we were to meet Pavarotti himself, if we had just dressed so casually in jeans like the other bleacher seats, would that handsome stranger had offered his premium tickets to us?

Never Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

I’ll never know. However, we certainly were prepared to accept the surprise gift. We looked the part and we had dressed the part. We could also have easily doubted that handsome man. Assumed he was pulling our leg or that some candid camera would pop up and the joke would be on us. However, we decided to go with it. There is a saying, never look a gift horse in the mouth. I’m not sure what that means exactly. I’m guessing it has something to do with not checking the horse’s teeth to see how old or worn down they might be, but rather just accept the generosity and be grateful. Do not question the giver by questioning the gift. Accepting his gift was then just a matter of faith in human kindness and generosity and a belief that we also deserved the magic of the experience. Magic indeed!

Slip into your Peak Creative Zone

Luck happens when preparedness meets opportunity. Be ready for the opportunity. It could be a business opportunity, career opportunity, the chance to slip into your peak creative zone, or one of life’s rare opportunities such as my night with the late, great Pavarotti. That’s all I’m saying really. If you know what you want – get ready for it. Dress to the nine’s and you never know what horse may land in your lap!