Seize the Opportunity
What are you waiting for?
I’ve spent a good deal of my life waiting. In fact, I could say that I’m seriously an expert at it. I know and have used all the excuses: waiting for the right time, waiting to be sure, waiting until everything is perfectly aligned, waiting for the right person or the right opportunity. I’ve not always been so good at seizing the moment.
Sometimes I’ve waited forever for an opportunity to drop into my lap when I should have been creating opportunities. For instance, I wrote several children’s stories about Wyatt The Wonder Dog and then kept them in a drawer for about ten years hoping someone would come along and tell me how to get them published. Not until I got inspired by Dan Miller of 48days To The Work You Love did I consider self-publishing and actually doing something rather than waiting. A favorite quote of Dan’s is, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” That statement is now my mantra.
Sometimes I rush ahead, hell bent for leather, and things don’t go as I hoped. But more often, I’m amazed at the success that I’ve been able to create just by consistently putting one foot ahead of the other and plodding forward. Seizing the opportunity doesn’t mean you have to be the hare, sometimes you can be the tortoise and still maintain momentum. I can still pay attention to details and be the expert planner that I am, but now there is a goal and a vision that I am actually taking steps toward.
I talk to people everyday who are waiting and wondering what direction to go in with their lives while opportunities are calling out all around them. Sometimes I even talk to people who are advised by someone else to wait. Recently, I talked with a client who has a book ready for publication and the company doing the publishing told her she should wait to market the book until she actually had it in hand. Seriously? Have they never heard of pre-ordering something? Obviously they have no idea how long it takes to get buzz going about a new product.
I’m not suggesting that you neglect the necessary research to make a wise decision. But sometimes, you just have to recognize that now is the time and make arrangements to seize the day. It might mean breaking out of a routine to seize an opportunity that is knocking at your door or it might mean creating an opportunity. Either way, be intentional. Be at cause in your life. Live a creative rather than a reactive life. The rewards are so worth it.
What about you? Are you seizing the opportunities around you? Or are you an expert at waiting?
For a quick start plan to quit waiting and start moving, check out my book:
