Once-in-a-lifetime Opportunities

Recently I’ve been thinking much about opportunities. Booker T. Washington said, “Opportunities never come a second time, nor do they wait for our leisure.” Recognizing that, I’ve started to consider how I live my life.

> If opportunities only come once, then I have to be ready to jump on them when they arrive. Have I set my life up to be able to take advantage of them?

> Sometimes the opportunity does not arrive in the form that I expected. Thomas Sowell notes, “Life does not ask what we want. It presents us with options.” These options are often opportunities – which means they could disappear at any time. This means that I must move on the opportunities in front of me, rather than the opportunities I wish were in front of me.

> How can we know which opportunities to move on, and which to ignore? This is an especially important question, since the opportunities may look different than we expect. My answer is – which opportunities move you in the general direction that you want to go? Let’s say that you want to arrive at the north pole, but as you drive, the road forks. One road goes west-north-west, and the other goes south-south-east. Neither road will get you to the north pole – but one gets you a lot closer. Choose the one that moves you toward your goal!

> What about when you don’t have opportunities? That’s when you hunker down and put the work in. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” (Seneca). “The secret of success is to be ready when your opportunity comes” (Benjamin Disraeli). What can you do now to maximize your chances of success when the opportunity does arrive?

In place of comments, I would love to hear from you personally. Please reach out to me via the Contact Page to share your thoughts and perspectives on this post!

Enjoying this content? Subscribe to receive it directly in your email, once a week.