There are 3 types of opportunities you will encounter.
The first one is public opportunities. These are the listings on job directories, the Help Wanted signs hanging in the window, the ads in the newspapers and on Craigslist.
The second one is private opportunities. These are the ones where you won’t find on anywhere of the above. They are offered to an exclusive circle, attempts at hiring from inside the company as a promotion offered to you, a former client recommending you to their friend, a sudden opportunity extended to you because of how you helped someone way back when. These aren’t advertised or promoted. They are selective and given with extra thought and care.
The third one is opportunities you see and create. This one takes foresight, seeing the dots and then the drive to connect them until something comes together. It takes luck to encounter in the first place, but, more importantly, it takes work to happen in the second, third, fourth, and so on.
No matter what type of opportunity you encounter though, you will risk losing or missing it if:
- You don’t do more than accept or notice it
- You don’t follow up once you been introduced
- You don’t commit to the work required
- You expect the work to be done for you
- You see yourself as the gift rather than the opportunity
- You think it’s what you’re owed, like it’s your birthright
- You won’t have to try, let alone struggle
- You believe it will always be there and you can take action later
- You wait as if it will come to you instead of you going after it
It’s not the opportunity that makes the rewards happens. That’s on you.
