Opportunities Lost

Have you ever lost some opportunity or opportunities in the past? Do you ever sit and be like " Oh I should have just done this or  instead...?" 

Do I have regrets, Yes! This makes me wonder, what informs the decisions that we make? How do you determine what you should pursue against what you should not? What do you say Yes or No to?

The general meaning of opportunity by study.com is a favorable situation that provides one with the a chance to progress. Other definitions simply puts it as a chance or set time that makes it possible to do something. 

Opportunities come in different ways on a daily basis, e.g. every day presents us with an opportunity to be kind, to love, laugh, have pleasure, learn, impact others, save someone, teach someone, make a big impact in the world around us, indulge, appreciate, cry, succeed at something, progress etc. We just have not realized how much opportunities we fail to see daily in our lives and interactions with people to see the beauty of life and to catch that one time chance of a lifetime.

In this post, we would focus on "opportunities in life", those very rare opportunities that just happen that offers you the chance to succeed at something that is of immense importance to you. 

Gist

So sometime in 2010, I had like this amazing idea for a solution that could really help improve judicial process and documentation in Nigeria ( I am not going to tell you details), but it was good and yes definitely would have been something today with the right mentorship and team.

In 2015, I submitted that idea to a Pre-incubation program and did not get a response for a year plus, its safe to assume I did not come close right. Early April 2017, I got this email asking me for a few more details about my project. It was such bad timing, I had lost my dad a week ago and that was the worse period of my life. Even worse is that I totally zoned out and could not find the product documentation 

and my response was  appalling, something about not being in a good place and I cannot access the document at this time.

Gone! Did not get any further response, a year later I wrote back (now back to business) with the feedback they had needed. No response, the opportunity is gone, the set time certainly must have past right. I remember this and I'm like I should have done this differently.

This is just one of many opportunities lost and so looking back there are regrets but life is full of it... ain't it?

How do you take advantage of Opportunities in life?

1. you must be able to tell that this is one of life's opportunity: How can you tell? Maybe, just maybe it aligns with your current or future goals. In every opportunity, theres always a lesson, good or bad, it will end up positioning you for better judgement in the future.

A Richard Branson quote that I like says if someone offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes and then learn how to do it later.

"Amazing opportunity" this is easy for situations where an opportunity is all dressed up looking like an amazing opportunity. Sometimes, opportunities do not just look like it, they present as hard work, failure, difficulty etc. but in reality it is an " Amazing opportunity". 

How is your vision? you need to develop good vision to be able to see an opportunity every time it presents it self in whatever form.

2. evaluate it: what input is neccessary, what are the possible outcomes, be curious and understand this 

lifetime chance to change something. One-time opportunities comes ticking, going, going, gone! AH! 

Be quick, you do not have the luxury of time, this does not remove the need to assess it, chances are, it might not just pan out as expected at this time, maybe never. 

Some opportunities will present again, some again, over a long period of time (this is no longer a one-timer...more like life's two-time opportunity). 

Nowadays, people label opportunities wrongly "it will never come again" or "it is a one time chance", this can be true if its an offering from a business to another business or consumer. Sometimes, that opportunity is re-dressed to look different "same package, different wrapper". These are not examples of once in a lifetime experiences are all of life's chance presenting itself as a chance to make good leap forward. Remember to evaluate, understand and make the BEST JUDGEMENT neccessary and  ON TIME too.

3. get to work: Time to have a good kick at it, why not, why waste time. Do what is neccessary to to make sure you are taking the opportunity and getting its full benefits. Especially if its a one of a kind opportunity, like life's one-time opportunities and you do not want to miss the timing. I missed a huge opportunity in 2017 because I did not understand timing and failed to get to work immediately it presented. Be prepared! When such rare opportunities knock, only the prepared experience its delights.

You know about times and seasons right, the sower knows to plant when the rains come and to reap at harvest time, the sower also knows what to plant and at what time of the year. This understanding is what gets him to work in the fields till theres an harvest in sight.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says " be careful, then, how you live -  not as unwise buy as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

4. Over the years if I have learnt anything from my past experience, it would be to always ask that the will of God prevails in any of my daily endeavors. The mind of God for us is good and not of evil, he said he has known us before we were conceived, thus he knows that an opportunity like this will present itself to you and what the outcome will be. 

We dont know that! Unless if you have access to visions. With revelation and the help of the spirit of God, telling an opportunity is easier, understanding the opportunity and knowing when and how to get to work is easier than it would normally.