Today I want to talk about opportunities. But not the opportunities you are given. Not the ones you are presented with. Those are easy to deal with. You think ahead, assess the consequences or results of whatever course of action you may take and you make a decision. Easy.
Today I want to talk about the opportunities that you DON’T get, those ones that don’t open up for you, those opportunities that don’t even seem to exist. Aren’t these the ones that haunt you? The ones that make you feel incomplete, unhappy and frustrated? I know it happens to me.
Maybe you want to switch jobs, maybe you are waiting for a chance to be hired as a teacher or a nurse or maybe you want to play soccer in a town where there are no venues or people that seem interested. Sometimes things don’t work out the way we want or planned for.
The times where you could sit and wait for things to happen are over. Only the very lucky ones get everything handed to them. Mr. Opportunity won’t come knocking on your door anymore. Now, you have to create your own opportunities. You have to get out there and make it happen. You have to stop waiting for the stars to align and start aligning them yourself.
You want a job in marketing? Great, take some courses or workshops, do some research and acquire the skills that are in high demand, go to networking events to meet people and make connections in the field. You want to become a teacher? Volunteer in local schools, take classes to learn other languages. Keep sending emails to the different districts you have applied for to update your resume and follow up with your applications. You want to play soccer? Use resources like Craiglist to find pick-up games and to connect with others who want to play. You can be the organizer and set a venue and a time to start kicking the ball around. Be the driving force that opens the doors and creates the opportunities you are looking for.
My point is to encourage you to stop sitting back waiting and hoping for things to start going your way. Take the reins of your destiny and work (work as hard as you want your goal) to make your objectives come true. Nothing is free. Successful people will agree that the road to success is never an easy one.
Having said that, the other important point I want to get across is: Do not give up. Let me say that again. Do NOT give up. I cannot guarantee that everything will work out the way you want on the first try, or the second, or the third. Sometimes it takes a long time and a lot of failure and rejection before you finally obtain your goal. But, what I can guarantee is that if you give up and stop trying, you will never reach your dreams. I am 100% sure of that.
So, work hard, create your own opportunities, and do not give up. Knock on Mr. Opportunity’s door rather than waiting for him to knock on yours.
