by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief Social Media Strategist at xynoMedia Technology

One of the things that really burns my shorts (as my wellness coach Cheryl says) is when people say to me:

Your business is doing so well. You're so lucky.

That's the quick way into a serious verbal altercation with me. Ask my sister's boyfriend. He'll tell you.

I was recently out west visiting my sister and we were on our way home from dinner. And, her boyfriend mentioned something about me being lucky. I promptly explained to him that I don't believe in luck. I believe in being prepared.

Even scientists who've studied luck say that it all boils down to your state of mind. That's not luck. That's something we each can control - our thoughts, responses and reactions.

Screw luck. For the life of my business, I have been PREPARED when OPPORTUNITIES presented themselves - and even when they didn't. Oh, and I've been ill-prepared, too - been there, done that. But, by and large, I've shown up when it counted.

Being successful in the technology business - in any business - is being in a state of hyper-preparedness. I've always been an over-achiever so this paradigm works well for me.

I love the dream of my business too much to trust it to luck. I know there are loads of people who start businesses and then coast. But, the business doesn't die a painful death - it goes on to flourish and prosper.  Sometimes it doesn't though and it's that 'sometimes' that's stuck in my craw.

This isn't a money thing for me. I believe that once you know how to make money, someone can take everything you have, drop you off in a new place and you'll find a way to make money because it's in your blood. This is a dream thing.

I know where I'm steering this ship. I don't need the inconsistent concept of luck looming over my vessel. I'm not lucky. I'm on purpose.

There are times when I'm up all night working - even with proper planning...running a business - it just is what it is sometimes. Other times I'm flying across country for days on end to speaking engagements and client meetings. That ain't luck.

Where others see lucky as an amorphous grace that touches people's lives in inexplicable ways, I see it as an unstable intrusion that's ready to implode.

I built this company for the past 10 years on my own. Sure I had help, but this is largely a solo act. Lady Luck never put the finishing touches on a proposal at midnight - I did that.

I have not received one dime of financing from any source not even from family or friends - nor do I want any. I lived hand-to-mouth for many years in New York (expense capital of the world) on a cash basis (read: no credit line).

What I've managed to create is nothing short of prepared planning. Making sure I'm in the right place at the right time. Listening to my intuition when it tells me to reach out to someone - or fall back a bit.

Luck? Jeeeeah, right.