I was scheduled to appear on Dateline, the NBC show, and that morning, as usual, I went for a jog in the park.

Stepping into a hole I didnt see, my foot twisted, audibly broke, and I had to hobble to the radio station where I had my own show, and from which we were doing the TV taping.

Freud said theres no such thing as an accident, and if hes right, my foot found the hole on purpose.

I dont want to buy this idea that built into us is a bizarre compass that insists on steering us in the wrong direction. I prefer to think that we set our own course, filling our sails with as much wind as we need for our journeys.

Yet, you cant deny it: lots of folks do seem to handicap themselves on the eve of a great triumph, or on the morning of an important meeting or sports competition.

The image comes to mind of Nicholas Cages character in the movie, Weatherman, who has flown to New York to audition for an on-the-air job for a national morning show.

The day before, his life seems to be tearing at the seams, his kids are difficult, his dad is dying, and hes consuming a bottle of hard liquor, staying awake all night.

How can he be expected to deliver a top-notch performance in that condition?

And maybe thats exactly his rationale for distracting himself. If he fails to win the part, he can always say, I wasnt at my best; I had too much on my mind.

In other words, if he wins, he wins, and if he loses, he has a neatly manufactured excuse.

Perhaps we think were unworthy of the fuss, the attention, the visible success, so we wish it away, or even brusquely push it aside.

In this case, we need to change that attitude, asserting that we have earned the victory, and if we were just lucky, in the right place at the right time, we will deserve whatever benefit has come our way, soon enough.

Well step-up, instead of stepping down.