When Opportunity Knocks...Will You Answer?

How many times have you looked at something and thought “MAN! I wish I could have gotten in on that in the beginning!”?  Or you heard about an offer or a deal with a limited time-frame but you ignored it or put it off only to find that you ended up missing out entirely? 

 

All of us experience this. And in this day of super high speed information that changes so rapidly, it’s no wonder that we miss many such opportunities simply because we cannot be all places at all times – unlike information – which is constantly everywhere at once.

 

So this begs the question… does opportunity pass you by or do you pass it by? And if you DO, does it really mean it will never come again as in “Opportunity only knocks once.”?

 

Here’s the rub for me… every day I am inundated with “opportunity” and I put it in quotations on purpose because today’s marketing geniuses make you believe that every single thing is new, improved, and you can’t live without it (it slices, it dices, it even makes julienne fries!)…. But they have gotten so good at the psychology of marketing that it’s sometimes hard to really determine if you have a real opportunity in front of you.

 

Let’s stop for one second and examine what an opportunity is:

 

According to www.Merriam-Webster.com, the word Opportunity dates to the 14th Century and means:

 

1. A favorable juncture of circumstances
2. A good chance for advancement or progress

 

There are many, many quotes and proverbs about Opportunity but what I like about the formal definition is that provides BOTH sides of the equation – just because something is presented to you that may provide “a good chance for advancement or progress” does NOT mean that there is always “a favorable juncture of circumstances”. 

 

To draw on my own experience I was recently presented something that I STILL maintain meets the second part of the definition above.  I know it so deeply that it pains me to admit that, despite all my efforts to make it work, there simply was not “a favorable juncture of circumstances” in play for me.  I tried and tired, I looked at every angle. I didn’t get the Paralysis of Analysis; I simply could not fit the square peg in the round hole.

 

The proverb says: “Opportunity neglected can never be recovered”. 

 

I can firmly say that I did not neglect this opportunity… I picked it up, I tried to run with it, but it was bigger than I could manage right now.  I tried to recruit help but I could not find it … it simply was the RIGHT THING at the WRONG TIME.

 

Now… this is not to say that I’m not disappointed, I certainly am. But I do know that the educated decision to CHOSE NOT to act is the right thing for me right now. And because of that, I feel certain that when the next BIG fish comes along, I will be better prepared and able to reel it in (and let me apologize now for my annoying habit of mixing metaphors at every “OPPORTUNITY”! OY! That’s just awful, isn’t it???!)

 

Look what I’m trying to say to you is…don’t berate yourself for not being able to key in on every so called “opportunity” that comes along. Most of us have a good gut instinct that tells us when something is a gimmick or a pitch. And let’s face it; our world is rife with these.

 

On the other hand, try to be keenly aware when there is something powerful available to you and pick it up… sniff it out, look to see if you are at a “favorable juncture” and if it IS favorable, ACT.  But be willing to admit when it is NOT favorable – I think a lot of folks are so motivated by what the marketing gurus call “FEAR OF LOSS” that we get ourselves in over our heads with commitments – both financial and otherwise – simply because we are programmed to truly believe that “Opportunity only knocks once”. I disagree. Good and real opportunities come along all the time as only one side of the equation but it takes both sides to make it really work. Train yourself to recognize these things and you’ll be amazed how often you have to open your door!

 

~Leanne