Tag Archives: Opportunity

Live as if you were living a second time

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“Live as if you were living a second time, and as though you had acted wrongly the first time.”

—Victor Frankl, late Jewish-Austrian holocaust survivor and psychiatrist

Image from Unsplash by Robert Ruggiero

For the weekend or occasional golfer, a mulligan is something many players covet.

It’s an opportunity, usually on both the front and back 9’s, to have a do-over on a whiff or missed hit that could sink a decent round. Even if it is never used by a player, they sure appreciate the fact that it’s there just in case.

We all experience many errant shots in life where things go out of bounds and miss their targets. These events often cascade into negative spirals of thinking, and we give up too soon.

EXERCISE:

Give yourself another chance to do better with your next shot. With this personal permission and practice, don’t be surprised if you start shooting some of the best scores of your life.

We live in an ocean of opportunity

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“We live in an ocean of opportunity. Being mindful of which waves to take will give you the ride of your life.”

—Author Unknown

Image from Unsplash by Jeremy Bishop

According to the U.S. Geologic Survey, there are over 332 million cubic miles of water on our planet.

Of this vast volume of water, NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center estimates that 321 million cubic miles are in our oceans.

Waves on water are caused primarily by wind. If you’ve ever been on a boat or at the beach you’ve surely seen and felt their power.

EXERCISE:

What winds of change have you experienced over the past several years?

How have you embraced the abundance of opportunities all around you?

What support structures are available to help you travel toward new horizons?

Don’t worry if you’re making waves just by being yourself.

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“Don’t worry if you’re making waves just by being yourself. The moon does it all the time.”

—Scott Stabile, Inspirational self-help writer and speaker

Image from Unsplash by San Sahil

Did you know that the moon only shows us one of its sides? Not until we sent spacecraft and men to orbit our neighbor did we see its other side.

Perhaps this is wise council for each of us as well. Being our true selves and showing the world who we are with all our impact craters may not be such a bad thing.

The moon has been tugging on us for billions of years. We were so fascinated by its pull we decided to visit it in the 60’s and early 70’s, and plan to return in the coming years.

EXERCISE:

How can living true to your nature—even if it makes a few waves—attract the people and opportunities you most desire?

When you receive criticism take a moment to pause

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When you receive criticism take a moment to pause. Let this time be a kind of speed bump to slow down and “try on” what is being said.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Brett Jordan

No one likes to be criticized and judged. We like the way we are doing our lives and anyone who disapproves is clearly wrong!

Oops! What just happened? How can it be that we, too, may be just as critical of others, and they don’t care for it very much either?

What if instead of blocking this feedback and defending our positions, we simply paused to consider their perspective?

What would happen if we actually looked for the potential value in what was being said?

How might new ways of looking at ourselves create new opportunities for growth and self-improvement?

EXERCISE:

How would slowing down for the seemingly critical speed bumps offered by others make your travel through life smoother?

How might the ideas that are shared actually fit if you “try them on” for size?

If you still find them too tight, loose, itchy, or the wrong color, you can take them off.

Crisis is an unexpected jarring of our ways that brings us into contact with our attendant spirit

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“Crisis is an unexpected jarring of our ways that brings us into contact with our attendant spirit.”

—Mark Nepo, author of The Book of Awakening

How have you and the world around you been jarred in unexpected ways these past few years?

How have these various events been both crises and opportunities at the same time?

Where and how have you been awakened and opened to your attendant spirit? How and in what ways can you move forward given this source of strength at your disposal?

EXERCISE:

How might you offer or seek assistance to and from others in your various communities?

How can we better tap into our collective attendant spirits to recover our footing and balance?

“Sometimes the door closes for us so we might turn and see an open gate to a wider opportunity.

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“Sometimes the door closes for us so we might turn and see an open gate to a wider opportunity.”

—Brendon Burchard, NYT best-selling author & high-performance coach

Image from Unsplash by Shane Rounce

Countless doors are closing in response to the global pandemic. To what extent have these efforts to contain and combat this crisis impacted your professional world?

What obstacles are in the way of you living life and conducting business as usual?

In what ways have you and your communities been forced to find other means of pursuing and achieving the outcomes you desire? In what way are closed doors forcing you outside your comfort zone, to see alternative open gates of wider opportunity?

EXERCISE:

Consider discussing today’s quote with members of your work and personal communities, to discover what new gates you can open together.

Friday Review: Opportunity

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FRIDAY REVIEW: OPPORTUNITY

How do you respond to opportunity? What opportunities have you passed up, or grabbed onto? Here are a few opportunity-related posts you may have missed.

 

“It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have one and not be prepared.”

 

 

 

“Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.”

 

 

 

 

“Doors don’t slam open.”

 

 

 

 

 

“Life is a series of moments. If you miss the moments, you miss your life.”

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“Life is a series of moments. If you miss the moments, you miss your life.”

—Robin Sharma, Author of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari series

Image of Sam Horn's "someday is not a day of the week" book cover

Image from Amazon

Someday is not a Day in the Week: 10 Hacks to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life, is Sam Horn’s newest book.

Sam is one of the reasons my book, The Quotable Coach – Daily Nuggets of Practical Wisdom, became a reality.

In 2013, I had the opportunity to spend two full days in her home, along with a dozen other lucky – or shall I say, committed – individuals who wanted to launch special projects and not wait for “someday.”

Her many personal stories and experiences fully demonstrate, and will inspire you to seize each day as precious moments not to be missed.

EXERCISE:

Consider watching Sam’s TEDx South Lake Tahoe talk. What one dream have you been putting off for “someday” that you will act upon today?

 

“Opportunities are seldom labeled.”

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“Opportunities are seldom labeled.”

—John A. Shedd, 19th Century American author and professor

For most of my life, I have been fascinated by the subject of personal and professional success.

I’ve read hundreds of books, attended dozens of seminars and conferences, and can hardly count the number of blog posts, podcasts, and TED talks I’ve explored.

In his book, Barking Up the Wrong Tree, Eric Barker digs into the science of success, to mess a bit with the conventional and unconventional wisdom on this subject.

One seemingly universal tenet of success does, however, point to the idea of taking massive action and trying many things along the way to stir up far more possibilities and opportunities to pursue.

EXERCISE:

To what degree are you waiting or being too passive, hoping for an opportunity to reveal itself?

Where would taking far more action and trying many more things help you bark up and climb the right trees for you?

opportunities take shape within the problems

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“Wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take shape within the problems.”

—Nelson Rockefeller

Image of Hans Gosling

Image of Hans Rosling from TED.com

Looking at anything and declaring it a problem is a very human thing to do. In many ways, this very characteristic is what makes us human.

In his fascinating book, Factfulness, professor of international health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling and his colleagues Anna and Ola, offer an amazing new explanation of why we see the state of the world as far worse than the facts reveal.

Rosling explains what he calls the “Ten instincts that Distort our Perspective.” Among them are:

  • Dividing the world into camps such as “Us and Them,” or developed and undeveloped countries.
  • The way we consume media in which fear rules.
  • How we perceive progress versus believing that things are getting worse wherever we look.

Rosling and his team of researchers are by no means blind to the significant challenges facing the world. He is, however, asking all of us to look closely and clearly at the objective facts to better enable us to tackle the very real problems facing humanity.

EXERCISE:

What is at least one significant opportunity in our world that you are committed to working on, given this clearer and objective perspective?

Please consider watching Hans Rosling’s TED Talks, and if you wish to learn more about his important work, read his book.