You may have wondered why some people seem to be quite “lucky or favoured” in
life than others. Most times, the only special thing they did to appear “lucky” or
“favoured” is being positioned to take advantage of opportunities.
I believe that opportunities abound and they are vehicles to one’s success in life.
However, one need to be positioned to fully take advantage of these
opportunities. Many people usually miss opportunities for the following reasons;
1. They Do Not Know What They Really Want: Over the years I have come to
realize that if you truly know what you are looking for, you will easily recognize
opportunities that will lead you to it. But the reverse is always the case when you
have little or no idea about what you are looking for. When you do not know what
you want you may be so close to your breakthrough and still will not recognize it.
See Also: 16 Reasons You Are Not Yet Where You Want To Be
2. They Are Not Ready: If you ask me, I will say that opportunities have a way of
favouring those who are prepared. According to Abraham Lincoln, “I will prepare
and someday my chance (opportunity) will come.” Now have you imagined what
happens when opportunity comes and you are not prepared? Chances that it will
favour you are very slim. When you know what you want and prepare for what you
want, you will easily connect with the opportunities that will take you there.
3. They Are Complacent: If you see no reason or have no meaningful desire to
look for a better job, increase your health or demand a raise at work for instance,
even when opportunities of that sort comes your way, you may likely miss them.
Most things we achieve in life are attached to our desires. When your desire is
strong enough, you will identify opportunities that will make your desires a reality
and even when you can’t find one, your desire will push you to create one.
4. They Are Simply Afraid To Pay The Price: Taking Opportunities means Taking
Risks and many people are afraid to take risks and pay the price. People usually
don’t know that opportunities are only means to an end and not the end it self.
Opportunity simply offers a chance at success. It only throws the door to your
success open but it is your decision to walk through it or not and walking through
it demands that you pay some price, make some adjustment and sacrifices to
maximize it. According to Thomas Edison “Opportunity is missed by most people
because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
5. They Have Little Regard For Information And People: My personal observations
have revealed that opportunities always come through two mediums –
INFORMATION and PEOPLE. If you are the type that has little or no regard for
any of these two, I will be sincere enough to tell you that you’ve already missed
so many opportunities and will miss more if you remain that way. That information
tag as “unimportant” may hold opportunities you never imagined. You never can
tell the potentials that person you may be looking down on holds. This points to
the importance of relationship and the reason it is an important success factor.