Would you rather be lucky or smart? Steve Jobs was both.

Even before Steve Jobs died, media reports repeatedly referred to his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University. In his speech, Steve jobs reflected some of the events that led him to co-found Apple Computer — what he called connecting the dots.
He saw how sitting in on a calligraphy class led to one of the signature features of the MacIntosh — the use of multiple fonts. Windows had no choice but to copy this and other innovations of the MacIntosh.
Jobs also talked about getting fired from Apple. I had always thought that Apple suffered from Jobs' absence — and vice versa. I still think Apple suffered, but Jobs revealed that what he accomplished apart from Apple wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been been fired. And after reading his speech, I see that he took what he learned during his time away from Apple to accomplish much more than the MacIntosh — the iPod, iTunes, and iPhone.
So Jobs was lucky for many of the opportunities in his life. But even more so, he was smart for recognizing opportunities, acting on them, and bringing them together for his many successes.
He also challenged us to find what we love to do and make it our life's work. But he never said we'd become rich or famous doing so. I can attest to that. After 30 years, I am still passionate about my job, and I'm neither rich nor famous. But by connecting the dots, I can see how I got here — by making some good decisions, some bad ones, and plenty of luck.