This article was last updated on May 31, 2015
People often wait for opportunities, but is it worth waiting for opportunities? My answer – No, it isn’t. First of all you can’t depend on pure luck, you never know if you will be granted with a great opportunity or not. So why do you want to be dependent on luck? Instead you could be and should be dependent on yourself. This is the only sure way you know you will be granted with an opportunity.
If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. ~Milton Berle
Opportunities are missed by most people because they don’t realise they’ve encountered such. Here is one of those basic laws in life: There will always be opportunities for those who recognise and pursue them. The lucky people are simply those who have taken more chances than average.
Why Wait For The Opportunity? Create Opportunities By Yourself!
Know your limits. – You can’t be perfect. You can’t do everything yourself. You can’t create a business or live the life of your dreams or make a lot of money if you don’t know your weaknesses, strengths and passions. If you know your limits and what you are capable of, you will know exactly what you need. Once you begin to know yourself, you will realise your weakness and you can fill these weaknesses with others people strength.
Open your eyes. – There is a lot more happening in the world than you see. Stop listening to music all the time you are riding the bus or the train. Maybe there is someone who can change your life in that bus/train. Maybe the person sitting next to you is your next business partner or your husband/wife or your new best friend. You just never know, life is unpredictable, and that’s why you should always keep your eyes wide open. You might miss an opportunity simply because you were too busy listening to your iPod. Always be on the lookout even when doing simple activities as drinking coffee, riding the bus or walking back home.
Meet new people. – If you want to be presented with more opportunities, simply meet new people. The more people you know, the higher chances you will be presented with new experiences. Go to meetings with people having similar interests as you. Visit conferences. You can even meet people online these days; join different Facebook groups, follow people on twitter; join LinkedIn. People are not so mean as you think. Also if you are one of those people who meet a lot of people on a daily basis and have a problem remembering their names this app will help you a lot – Anki(This app will make you never forget a name, job position or age again. It does miracles.) Most people are open minded and are always looking for new friendships and connections. One of the reasons Motivationgrid had such a big growth in such a short time is because I meet new people everyday.
Don’t be afraid to ask. – Just DON’T! There is no shame in not knowing something, and there is no shame in questioning things. Do you know how I got my first job? I simply asked the manager could I work here and after he interrogated me a bit he said; Yes. So I found a job by simply asking a question in a company that wasn’t looking for employees. Most people would gladly help you if you asked them nicely for some help. People are not monsters, most of us are good and kind. You just have to ask the right way.
Don’t be afraid to try a different approach. – In Bulgaria(the country I am from) blogging is not something people make money out of. Here most people don’t even know what blogging is and when I decided I wanted to blog, people laughed at me and told me to find myself a serious job. But I didn’t think so; I knew I could create a successful blog myself and that all happened thanks to the steps I mentioned above. And in the end I did. Now I am earning x5 more than what my friends are earning. I am working from home, I work when I want to and I haven’t even mentioned the best thing yet – I am doing something meaningful; I am helping people and I love that. I simply love what I do. Why? Because I wasn’t afraid to go out of the box. Just because the masses of people think something is wrong, doesn’t mean they are right.
Travel. – You should visit different places at least one time a year. This way you will surely as well meet new people and also might be presented with an opportunity that simply doesn’t exist at your hometown. A friend of mine went for a vacation at Rome, but he never came back. He found a job there and he liked it so much that he decided to stay in Rome.
Build self confidence. – You can’t make people follow you if you don’t look confident. That’s why you need confidence, you need to be sure 120% the things will workout right in the end if you want other people to believe you as well. It might be fake confidence, but you need to have it. Most people follow the leaders even when they make bad decisions simply because of their leadership status. And if you could make people follow you, you will surely be able to create a lot of opportunities for yourself/ your company/ your work place.
Keep learning. – Learning is a process that never ends. You can always learn something new. Always maintain the attitude of student. If you think you are done learning, bitterness set in, but if you have more to achieve every day, in any arena, that makes each morning’s awakening full of potential and cheery portent.
In the end it all comes to doing. You will never get presented with opportunities by sitting and watching TV all day. Go out, feel, see, be and take part of live. If you are active and always on the lookout you will always end up on the right place in the right moment.
We see opportunities as opportunities only when we are ready to see them, otherwise we see them as difficulties. – Hristiqn Nikolov
