Sometimes you have to work really hard to get what you want. Other times, exactly what you want just drops right into your lap. But as they say: “easy come, easy go.”
If you aren’t aware of how you got something, you’re less likely to know how to guard it and keep it. You won’t be as intuitively aware of its weaknesses. For example, if you scrimp and save for months or years to buy a car you desire, then you’re likely to be very appreciative of it. You’re also probably aware of its maintenance costs and habits, how it handles, and so on.
If you just won that same car in a game show, you have no idea. You don’t even know how to pay the taxes on it, let alone how to keep it well.
The point is, if you suddenly get what you want unexpectedly, and you actually want to keep it, then it’s time to work backward. Retroactively put in that same effort that you would have if you’d earned it the normal way, but steer that effort towards putting a bracket on it.
Don’t let something fall right into your lap, only to slip through your fingers.
The Opportunity Machine 