I often marvel at the seemingly trivial events that greatly shape my life. Just thinking about my professional life, I have:
My first job out of college happened because I met and befriended one specific person in college (was there for 5 years).
My second job (and first startup) happened because I went to a 4-person dinner/game-night at a friend's (who I met at that first job) house, and talked to one of the other attendees who was interviewing at this company, and was willing to refer me (was barely there for a year and a half, but it fundamentally changed my view of work and employment).
Fast forward, and my current job (nearly 8 years now) happened because I checked an email account that I hadn't looked at in several years (and saw a recruiting email of a type I'd usually ignore), because I was trying to sign into some random account on the internet and I'd used that email address as the recovery account, many years before.
Obviously there was more to it than those single events, but each of those things were essential in opening up the opportunity in the first place.
My personal life and social circles often grew from similar simple, one-off, surprise events.
My first job out of college happened because I met and befriended one specific person in college (was there for 5 years).
My second job (and first startup) happened because I went to a 4-person dinner/game-night at a friend's (who I met at that first job) house, and talked to one of the other attendees who was interviewing at this company, and was willing to refer me (was barely there for a year and a half, but it fundamentally changed my view of work and employment).
Fast forward, and my current job (nearly 8 years now) happened because I checked an email account that I hadn't looked at in several years (and saw a recruiting email of a type I'd usually ignore), because I was trying to sign into some random account on the internet and I'd used that email address as the recovery account, many years before.
Obviously there was more to it than those single events, but each of those things were essential in opening up the opportunity in the first place.
My personal life and social circles often grew from similar simple, one-off, surprise events.