Are You Waiting For Your “Opportunity Savior”?
Just like in romantic relationships, many individuals are waiting for what I call their “Opportunity Savior” to show up—someone that will give them the opportunities they’ve been waiting for. While there are occasionally situations, for example, where an individual gets discovered while shopping at a mall, most opportunities are created through action and being willing to do what most people won’t. Waiting around for someone to show up and create opportunities for you is naive and puts you in a very tenuous situation where your life and where it goes are in the hands of someone else.
How can you be your own Opportunity Savior?
Action: It may seem very simple, but action creates opportunity, and the more action you take, the more you can keep negative emotions and self-destructive behaviors at bay. Connecting and networking with people is considered all over the world to be one of the best ways to create opportunities. Studies show that 95% of your success comes from who you know; if this is the case, then one needs to formulate a focused and concerted effort to meet the right people. No one is just going to turn up at your door! For example, you will need the discipline that it takes to go beyond tiredness when you don’t feel like going to a networking session or when you don’t feel that you can afford to attend a certain event. Successful people, for the most part, are the ones taking the most action; they are creating their own opportunities in life and are not waiting for anyone else to do it.
Social Media: In today’s virtual world, you must have an active and engaging social media presence. You are your brand, and it needs to be promoted online. Take the time to learn about social media and how to get the most juice out of it in order to create opportunities. Take a moment to research yourself online; if there is anything negative about you, look into how you can have it removed. Another very important thing to remember is that what you put on the internet lives forever! Even if you post something that you later regret and cancel, don’t forget that someone may have already taken a screenshot! Many politicians and celebrities have learned this lesson the hard way. Stay away from controversial topics unless you are building a career as a provocateur.
What do you want to do? It may seem obvious, but many times while coaching, when I’ve asked someone what they want to do in life, they simply shrugged and said they didn’t know. This is similar to getting into a car and not knowing where you need to go—you just sit there and go nowhere. In moments like this, it’s vital to turn off all the noise and distractions that we have in our lives, quiet down, and ask ourselves what we really want to do with our lives. Never buy into the belief that you have to do something that you don’t want to. You may choose to do something for a period of time while you are working on moving onto something else, but believing that you are tied to something without choice can be very demotivating and debilitating. Get thinking and planning now! Someone once said that if you don’t have a plan for your life, someone else does! Truer words were never spoken.
Today is the day in which you need to decide that you will be your own Opportunity Savior. This does not mean that along your life’s journey people won’t help you or open up opportunities for you, but ultimately, most of the time, no one is going to take your life as seriously as you will. You owe it to yourself to create as many opportunities as you can for yourself in this lifetime.
