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I have never been the type to wait for opportunities to come to me – I go get them. I don’t think its worth waiting for them to come. You can’t depend on pure luck because you never know when you’ll be granted with a great opportunity or not. Don’t depend on luck, depend 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 realize they’ve encountered such. Here is one of those basic laws in life: There will always be opportunities for those who recognize and pursue them. The lucky people are simply those who have taken more chances than average.
Here are some tips:
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.
Don’t be afraid to ask. – Just DON’T! This tip is based on a lot of things… There is no shame in not knowing something, and there is no shame in questioning things. 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. If you want to work with a particular brand, don’t wait for the magical moment when they come across your page, love you and want to work with you. Send your media kit and pitch yourself! I know a lot of people that have worked with major brands simply because they asked and pitched themselves.
Don’t be afraid to try a different approach. – take me for example… I run a multiple businesses and a blog that earns me money. A lot of people don’t believe it is a job but running a blog has the potential to earn more money than working for someone else. You get to work from home, travel when you want and do meaningful things like help people. 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.
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. 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 the 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. I still, to this day, learn new things I didn’t know.
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.
