Don’t wait for opportunities. Find them. Create them. Make the best use of them.
“ If you wait for everything to be perfect before taking action on your dream, you’ll never take the first step “ – Gail Lynne Goodwin.
Often we sit back and wait telling ourselves we have just not got the right opportunities to manifest our best potential. But who is going to give us that opportunity? In this dog-eat-dog world, people are ready to pounce on every opportunity, so how would you make the cut?
So many times we see men and women of infinite potential not realizing their dreams, their talent wasted because they didn’t take positive action at the right time.
Carpe Diem (seize the day) should be the mantra for any individual who wants to succeed in life. Success does come to those who wait but why not make your wait worthwhile and grab everything that comes your way, meanwhile? Surely you will be all the richer for it?
Successful men have not reached the pinnacle of their careers by stepping back and waiting for an opportunity to present itself to them. No, they, in fact, step forward and make hay and even make sure the sun shines when they do it! They take destiny in their own hands, no lines on their palms ( except toil and sweat), talking parrots or crystal balls can make them stray away from their path.
Man maketh the opportunity, opportunity does not maketh the man. Decide for yourself whether you want to do things or just lie back and watch other people do things and achieve dreams that were once yours.
Set goals
Life has a purpose when you have a goal. Write yours down. When you have a dream that is so real you can almost feel it, you will be self-motivated towards fulfilling it. Success knows no excuses, it is only for those who value their dreams and set forth to achieve them. Set realistic goals and also prepare a timeline for them. Some goals can take a lifetime to achieve but if each step you take gets you one step closer to your dream, then each of those steps counts.
Be prepared
Striking the iron while it is hot works. The thing is, you do not own that iron, and you certainly do not know when you have to strike it and whether it will be hot when you do. So what do you do? Be prepared to take that iron down as soon as it appears and strike it real good. Opportunities do not come knocking at leisure. They come and go and many a time, they never come back because somebody else grabbed it instead of you. Do not be that person who was not prepared. Be on your toes, always.
Seek inspiration
Follow lives of successful men, you will be surprised to find out that most of them started out small but they never let that be a hindrance. Let them be an inspiration to you. Money or the lack of it was never an excuse for them. Many, if not all, have even been ridiculed at by others because they dared to be different. But they never let that be a hindrance and just shrugged and continued with their dreams and create their opportunities. Look, where they are now!
Take that road to create your opportunities
Brace yourself and take the path you have chosen for yourself. Come rain, come sun, keep walking. Do not let anything intimidate you. At the end of the road, you will have evolved as a wiser individual. Do not be scared of your own dreams. Challenge yourself and take down everything. Have a heart of steel and courage and iron determination.
Do not be let down
Grab every opportunity you can. Be prepared but also realize that you cannot foresee everything even with all that preparation. A positive attitude is key. When life gives you lemons, sell them and earn a profit. This should be your mantra.
Get rid of the negative energy around you
All those critical voices around you can dampen your spirit and throttle your dreams. DO NOT let them. Listen, nod, agree but take in only positive criticism. Let it be constructive towards making you a better individual instead of letting it define you.
Stay focused
Achieving the ‘big dream’ is dissecting the big dream into various smaller dreams. Your current achievements might seem like baby steps to you but then, even babies reach their destination right? Simply do not let go of your dream, constantly tell yourself what you want, what you desire, how you see yourself. Keep memos, journals or post-its where you can see them every day, they will be constant companions and keep you focused.
Before you go…
Most of the people find it hard to maintain a positive outlook towards the external world. If you look at the world with a broader perspective, you would see that there are opportunities to grow professionally, socially, financially and as an individual too. Social media and the never-ending world of the internet have further widened the scope of opportunities. Read on to know how you can create a plethora of opportunities for yourself by simply changing your perspective of the world around you and inside you.
Change your attitude and see the external world changing
We live in a society where even after working hard and giving your best shot you wait for a reward on part of society. It is a misleading truth since it is your own responsibility to create opportunities for yourself and make best use of your abilities. Take the employment scenario for example, there are least chances that a multinational company approach you with a job opportunity.
One has to go and look for it. If you do not get a job then you must create one for yourself. You must learn ways to work on your personal growth so that you can see opportunities or create them. If you develop a positive outlook, the world seems full of opportunities. It simply means you always had opportunities but simply couldn’t see them.
Learn to rely on your abilities
Analyze the market; you will see that many entrepreneurs have successfully set up their own business and are doing great. There is a steady demand for products in the market. There is a need to push yourself forward and rely upon your own abilities. If you believe you can bring about a change then you really can do that. A writer must move a step forward and publish his/her book. A singer must release his/her own album and those who wish to see a changed society must work towards it. Do not wait for others to give you an opportunity, create one for yourself.
Create an environment
You can hardly think of winning if you always keep yourself among those who do not wish to make progress in life. If you interact with positive people, you find innovative ways to create new opportunities since it motivates you to grow in life. You can never afford to let your less motivated friends discourage you or pull you back, watch the company you keep.
Learn to volunteer
You see opportunities all around you when you learn to volunteer. It increases your self-confidence, which enables you to channelize your energy in a positive direction. You feel capable of doing more and life satisfaction is at its peak. You feel good about yourself and see things in a positive light.
When you volunteer, you stay in touch with people who motivate you to make achievements in life. People who volunteer are less prone to depression and anxiety since they have winners all around them. When you are full of positivity, your world is full of opportunities.
Make effective use of your will power
Your success or failure also depends upon you will power to succeed. It is quite natural to quit in between when you find it hard to get success but those who do not give up find a way out somehow. It is a world known fact that successful people turn their challenges into their opportunities and set new standards of success.
Keep yourself fully prepared
Almost all of us get opportunities that could change our lives forever but we hardly use those opportunities to our advantage. When we get an opportunity, either we are not prepared to give our best or do not even see that this could prove to be a turning point in our life. Keep yourself all prepared, be aware of your surroundings and work hard even when there is no urgent need. This way you can make the best use of your skills and prove your worth to all others around you.
Success never comes easy. Creating an opportunity demands that you come out of your comfort zone. Do not get hesitant if others make fun of you or are not able to relate with your vision. When you have a dream and a burning desire to realize that dream, you can create opportunities at each step of your life.