Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

(A quote I used in my latest interview, I think, if I remember correctly.)

I have advantages others don't. I can articulate well, I can present nicely - I have all those great people skills of the example-girl in your first comment. I'm smarter than your average bear. People seem to think I'm good-looking besides. Of course, I still make less than half you do ;) but my goal is 100k by the time I'm 30 and trust me, it's a reachable goal. (OKCupid, by the way, tells me I am "very ambitious." That and independence are my most exaggerated bars. It makes one wonder much less why one is single, sometimes.)

I think the crux of your comment, (although not perhaps your intended point) is to learn as much as you can across as many useful fields as you can. I've taken like 12 hours of online Excel classes. Some day, maybe it'll come in handy. Maybe I should look into access instead. Maybe Python. I recognize that math and programming and logical thinking are better areas for me to sink time into than poetry if I want to move forward in my career.

This, however, is why you help co-workers out. Because it helps you out a lot in the end. If you can establish yourself as a subject-matter expert in something, and let it get around the department, who knows where it will lead. At first you might be like "Ugh this is a lot of work for no recognition" but the truth of the matter is, the recognition comes. - unless you're at a shitty company.