Finally, I suppose, I’d say that a surprising amount of a good career is about getting lucky and taking advantage of when you’ve gotten lucky. It’s clear to me that many of the best things that have happened to me were only partially in my control, if that.
That is one of those 'small privileges' you get from an upbringing that teaches how to succeed I think, much like personal finance, travel, building strong relationships and so on. I know it's hard to get through to kids sometimes, but just having them keep in mind that they should be aware of these topics puts them miles ahead of others in terms of living a well lived life.
Knowing how to do so - or even what ‘full advantage’ includes - is almost certainly one of those ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ things. Obvious later in your career, but invisible at the time.
Happened to me just this morning, even, that I saw a publisher say they were accepting submissions I had some games that would be a good fit but I'm still trying to iron out a few things (and could have done that by now, but hadn't).
I'm a good deal wealthier than some much harder working + smarter friends of mine because I lucked into joining some (moderately) successful startups.
No, luck does not favour the prepared, but survivorship bias makes it seem so.
Still, recognizing that you can do more, or less, with converting a lucky opportunity into lucky career growth is important. Especially for those of us who are of average skill.