If You Want More Opportunities, Do This!
Colin McClean
Helping Learners to Grow, Overcome and Achieve the Life and Career They Desire
Everyone, including myself, would love to have opportunities fall into our laps at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that a genie or a leprechaun will grant you more opportunities! Many of you are looking for a magical sign but it will never come, unless you do this one thing.
How many of you are, or know of a person who has been, saying for years they were going to do something and never do it; be it lose weight, chase a dream or leave a job. When you hear the phrase, “Someday I’m going to…” you’re probably thinking that their, “Someday” is really a “No Day”! I’m here to tell you that it is possible to turn your “Someday” into a “Real Day”!
When there is something you want to accomplish — be it a dream or moving your career forward — it is necessary that you work on it. You’ve got to make it a sense of urgency. “Work” is the only thing that is going to give you the opportunities you seek.
1) You Need A Sacrifice: I’m not talking about the burning altar of ancient times where offerings were made to the gods of opportunity. What I mean is that you must be ready at any moment, to sacrifice what you are now for what you can be.
You must be like the phoenix that destroys itself and then rises out from the ashes, reborn stronger and better than it was before. Some of us need to destroy our old ways of procrastination by getting up earlier to start working and planning their next moves.
Others need to sacrifice their distractions (e.g. social media, TV, checking emails 24/7, personal calls) and turn to focusing on bettering themselves. If you want to be more, you have to work on developing yourself and your skills. A caterpillar will never fly until it transforms itself into a butterfly. Now is the time to start developing your wings, because one day soon you will have the opportunity to fly.
2) Pain Is Only Temporary: Pain is temporary and eventually it will disappear. At the end of pain, there’s opportunity. When you have an opportunity to make your dream a reality, you will put in the work. Don’t stop until the opportunity starts knocking. You will be under constant pressure, but it will make you stronger and better.
They say that what doesn’t break you only makes you stronger. It reminds me of the science behind coal and diamonds. They are both made up of carbon; the carbon in the coal has very little pressure or heat place upon it. But the carbon that enables diamonds to form are under extreme pressure and heat causing them to be almost indestructible and most of all valuable. So, for your dreams, what do you want to be, a piece of coal or a diamond? If you are truly willing to put in the effort and stay in the fire and pressure just a little while longer, opportunities will start to come your way.
3) Excuses Are Cheap, Execution Is Priceless: Everyone says they want to be successful and surrounded by endless opportunities, but are they willing to do the work? Successful people put in the time to work on their skills for hundreds, and often thousands, of hours. You can’t just talk about it; you have to be about it!
If not now, when would be a good time to start working on your dreams? Excuses are mental defeats that we use as anchors that keep us hidden from the opportunities circulating above.
If you feel that the work is too big for you to tackle, follow the old parable, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. Break your work into manageable smaller pieces. Finish strong and don’t let procrastination or distraction be the thief who steals your time and your opportunities!
This reminds me of a quote by Thomas Edison,
Share the projects you are currently working on with me. I want to know!
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Sincerely,
Colin McClean, Your Career Blacksmith
“Keep moving forward and looking upwards!”