David spent his whole childhood dreaming of joining the army as a fighter pilot. Everything he did in school and his social life was specifically for the purpose of enhancing his chance of achieving his dream occupation. He worked hard at school and got top grades. He studied everything there was to know about the air force and being a fighter pilot. David even attended summer camps run by the army to help him along with his dream.
When David graduated high school, the first thing he did was enroll in the army and start the process of becoming a fighter pilot. He went through all of the army’s training and then went through all of the army’s testing and passed everything with flying colors. David was ready to take his first step into the air force. For the specific role that David wanted there was additional testing to make sure that he would be able to handle the high speeds and altitudes required for the position. Once again David went through the testing with a breeze and passed everything, except the last test. David only had 70% usage of his left nostril. Something that nobody would ever know if they didn’t take that test. In a split second, David’s dreams were crushed.
Being so focused on his goal, David never looked around to see what else was out there for him. Once he found out that he will never be able to be the fighter pilot that he wanted to be, he decided not to give up on everything and he looked around for other alternatives. Every department in the army wanted David because of his strong background and excellent test results. David got many offers from the army and even from companies who tried to recruit him. David was able to write his own ticket and he created a new dream job which looking back, he feels is much more enjoyable and rewarding than being a fighter pilot.
David never would have had this opportunity without a little bad luck first. In fact, David doesn’t even call it good luck vs. bad luck. He says “things happen, it is what you do from there that determines whether it is good or bad”. Many people miss opportunities because they are so focused on one thing. Sometimes it takes a little bad luck to have good luck. But really, maybe you can have more good luck and less bad luck if you just open yourself up to more options.