Awaiting vs. Creating Opportunities

Have you ever said to yourself, “I want to do something big… I’m just waiting on the right opportunity”? or “I’m waiting for the right time”?

I had a conversation with someone over those very statements a few weeks ago and it brought up a good debate. I had mentioned that the reasons I’m not exploring entrepreneurship right now are because I don’t have the time with my school/workload, and I haven’t found the right opportunity yet. He countered, asking me why I’m not trying to create my own opportunities, and that got me to thinking: Should we be simply waiting on opportunities to drop out of the sky, or should we be actively searching for opportunities, creating them ourselves if we fail in our quest?

Many people out there use the two statements above as shields, hiding behind them to defend against uncertainty, doubt, and ultimately, failure. They also use them to procrastinate, and realistically, many just don’t want to do what it takes to find that opportunity. However, when you throw all of those excuses away and commit to creating opportunities, doors will open up, and depending on your preparation and perseverance, opportunity will become success.

Take my newest financial opportunity, for instance. My employer has a tuition reimbursement program that I’m participating in. Normally, I would use the reimbursement amount to pay off as much of the loans I’ve incurred over the semester as possible, which would seem obvious to the responsible person. However, I realized I can do more with that money. I started looking into ways I can safely invest it since my loans are subsidized until 6 months after I graduate, similar to my student loans strategy. Did I wait for someone to tell me what to do with the money? Did I wait for an opportunity to come along? No sir… I’m creating my own opportunity to generate more cash to pay off my student loans, all without incurring more costs.

Sure, awaiting an opportunity is worth it when it finally comes by… it’s almost like hitting the lottery. However, creating an opportunity yourself is much more rewarding, and much more likely. And who says you can’t do both? Shortly after that conversation I resolved to do just that. I’m going to work on creating my opportunities. That way, when an opportunity comes along, it will be easy pickings since I’ll know what to do with it.

Remember, success happens when opportunity meets preparation.