There are a couple of words in the English language that just get under my skin. “Just” is one of them. “I’m just an agent.” “I’m just this.” No. Let’s get that word out of your vocabulary.

But the one that really gets to me? Lucky.

People look at me now and see that I’ve built an organization of over 10,000 agents. They call it luck. They say I was lucky to be in the rooms I was in. Lucky to have the relationships I had. Lucky to be where I was in the company. And for a long time, I almost apologized for that. Like, oh… yeah, I guess I am lucky.

But then I started really looking at it.

If people understood the full story, they would understand that “luck” looks an awful lot like hard work.

Before partnering with eXp Realty, I was number one at Keller Williams. I had been a top producer for years and years and years. I was one of the top attractors when I wasn’t even trying to be an attractor. I was the one going into the real estate school, the conferences, the trainings, and doing the things other people weren’t doing. And because of that, the results showed.

Fast forward and the big name agent that I was “lucky” to know. I had actually already had a track record of success with him because we had been building together for years. Our model and our market center became one of the most profitable and growth-building market centers at the time. I wasn’t the sole reason, but I certainly had a hand in it.

So when I really thought about it… that’s not luck.

That’s showing up consistently for years. That’s putting in the hours. That’s earning it.

I earned that relationship over years. I earned my stripes. I was his number one agent. I was pouring into people. He knew who I was as a human being. So when the opportunity came for me to sit down with him and talk about a new opportunity, it wasn’t random.

At the time, my market center had 650 agents and I was number one in it. When I first looked at eXp, there were only 400 agents nationally. I didn’t go to this agent to pitch him. I didn’t “eXp” on him. I didn’t even know how to spell eXp at the time!

But what I did know was that I valued this individual. I trusted him and I knew that he knew who I was at my core. I asked him if he would have a conversation with me, challenge my thinking, and tell me what I don’t know.

That was it. Curiosity. Not recruiting.

And, sure, it still took five months of conversations before anything happened. Five months of exploring, asking questions, figuring out if it made sense. And eventually he said, “I’m bored. I’m uninspired. Let’s do this together.”

People will look at that and say, “You were lucky.”

But that moment didn’t come out of nowhere.

It came from years of work. Years of showing up. Years of relationships. Years of doing the things no one else wanted to do. Years of at-bats.

So no… I wasn’t lucky. I was prepared. Luck is just preparation meeting opportunity. And when the opportunity came, it wasn’t even a question because the foundation had already been built.

So let’s retire a few words. No more “just.” No more “lucky.”

And maybe start giving yourself (and others) a little more credit for the work you’ve (and they’ve) actually put in.

Remember, luck is where preparation meets opportunity. What do you need today to prepare yourself for your next opportunity? Will you be ready?