Years ago someone said to me, "Luck happens to those who let it." It's stuck with me, because I think it's so true. In fact it's what makes Napoleon's famous (and probably apocryphal) statement actionable: "When I choose Generals I prefer the lucky ones."

I've started large companies and tiny / failed ones; although I look back at my own execution problems for the ones that didn't make it, I recognize that the ones that succeeded were lucky, and we were just lucky enough to be able to take advantage of that luck.

For example: - tons of cold calls and regular sales calls until we accidentally signed up the right kinds of customers - having some customers who told us how we should be running our business, and being smart enough to listen to them - recognizing at one point, "hey, we're making all our money from customers who ask for Y, why do we think our business is X?" (i.e. what hipsters these days call a "pivot")

etc

I love the ones who think they're badass -- they're too busy being badass to slog through the mire and get to the mountain.