The last time I was in Charleston, S.C. I was 16 and coming to interview at The Citadel. Dressed to the nines and ready to impress, I walked up to the Admissions Office and seeing a woman at a desk politely said, "I'm Joshua Lawton. I'm here for an interview." After looking through her calendar she said, "No you're not, because your interview was yesterday."
Dejected and pondering about what I was going to tell my mom, I strolled around Charleston, falling in love with the architecture and reliving the Civil War history in my mind. Day turning to dark and offices emptying of people, I found myself where most teenage boys find themselves when they aren't worried about their parents, sitting at a bar and wondering how can I get a drink?
I asked for a virgin daiquiri. As I talked with the people around me about what they did and made up a story about what I did, I found myself at the bottom of an empty glass. Glass empty, a new bartender asked, "Do you want another?" I said, "Yes" and lo and behold my next drink contained alcohol!
That day I learned that patience, waiting for the right moment, and a little bit of luck can get you what you want. The same holds true in business.
Being much older than 21 and finding myself in Charleston again, I think I'll grab a drink.