It's all just a load of pants.

This week, I've sat and listened to the life stories of two people, both quite well known. And it's only Thursday!
The first, journalist and broadcaster Angela Rippon, talked about her career, and, very refreshingly for a journalist, talked about the importance of truth and integrity. It made me wonder - when I get to her age, one thing I'd love would be to have a room full of people listen to me talk about my life so far. One aspect of living life to the full is that you then get to inspire other people with it.
However, it seemed, that even this very together, seemingly level-headed woman, hadn't ended up where she had planned. From the age of seven, she had wanted to be a photographer. Okay, so, her career isn't exactly at the other end of the spectrum. However, it made me wonder - we can dream all we want about where we want to get, and the person we hope to grow in to. But will it ever happen the way we plan it to? Or is chance just too prominent in our lives?
Yesterday, I interviewed Philip Taylor, AKA 'Pants man', who was on last year's The Apprentice.

He then stood and, for three hours, told a room full of people how to chase their dreams. He started out in life with aspirations of being in a band. But, like a lot of people, he sold his soul and succumbed to life's menial jobs in order to make a living. He started out as an engineer, then worked as an estate agent before auditioning for The Apprentice. Okay, so he demonstrated some degree of 'never giving up'. However, his life now, as much as he would be reluctant to admit it, is due to his time on the show. Therefore, again, by chance. He has it in him to go after what we wants and have the courage to follow his ideas. However, without The Apprentice, he could be living a very different life.
I can dream all I want, build up my CV, and listen to millions of speeches, but will they make a difference? How can we tell what kind of people we will turn into? And how do we have control over this? Does positive thinking and determination really work? Or is it actually just a case of right place right time?
I'm almost certain that when he was little, Philip had a vision of what his life would be like when he grew up. But he never would have guessed that it would include Alan Sugar slagging off his pants.
Nevertheless, stood in front of me, he appeared happy, successful and ambitious. Surely what we all want, really? But no matter how many slides of 'how to start your own business' he had, he couldn't exactly pass on his 'go getter' gene. And I guess that's what seperates the audience from the guest talkers.
Is it all down to chance? Can successful people really make a difference in our lives just by advising us? Maybe we should just sit back, stop working so hard to achieve our goals, and let the universe play its part. I don't know. But what I do know, is that I'll never be able to put my pants on in a morning without dancing.