A lot of people hope for opportunities, for growth, or for success, but the truth is that not everyone recognises opportunities when they see them. The major reason is that opportunities do not come with a tag that will tell you what it is, and it may not look attractive and comfortable. Rather it may appear as hard work, sacrifices, responsibilities, discipline, learning, or discomfort. While many people may be looking for quick success, they tend to overlook valuable opportunities simply because they may not look like what they want. What they fail to understand is that the treasures that they are looking for may just be hidden inside the dirts, but they will need to dig through the dirts and get their hands dirty to locate it.
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A friend was telling me how he secured his current job and the processes that led to it. When he finished from school, he got a place for an internship. It was at a small company, and the pay was very low, with so much responsibilities. At first, he felt very disappointed because the work was not what he wanted, and it was very stressful. However, he decided to stay on the work and learnt as much as he could. Over time, he gained extensive experience, developed valuable and important skills, then above all, it helped him to build strong professional connections.
After a few years of working there and gathering all these, the experience and all he had gotten from the company helped him to get a far much better job opportunity. He got the kind of job in a company that he had always dreamt of. You see, what looked like a very difficult work initially, later became what prepared him for greater success. If he had missed the first company or looked down on it because it was not up to par with what he wanted, he may have missed the opportunity to work in his dream company. This goes to prove that opportunities can come even in the places that you least expect for them to be in.
Funny enough, when my friend got that job in the first company, another of his friend also got the same offer. However, he refused the job because he thought that it was below par to what he wanted. He was looking for job in a blue chip company, yet he ignored what would have provided him the pathway to get to it. Imagine someone looking for the product, yet ignoring the process. No one builds a house or any other structure from the top, but from the ground. Now, after about 4 years, the other guy is still looking for job, but his friend has landed a job in his dream company. Simply because he saw opportunities where the other guy did not see anything. His hard work in the first company paid off for him.
Hard work is a very fundamental pathway to achieving growth. You cannot hope to achieve success without preparation, discipline, or efforts. Everything of value that you want to achieve will require you to put in actions and efforts. Some people keep waiting for opportunity without putting in action. What they fail to understand is that the opportunities they want may be disguised as efforts, work, and actions, which may even seem difficult and uncomfortable. Life rarely answers to luck but to work. Even if you hope for luck, it will be better it meets you while you are already engaged in doing something worthwhile. When you get your hands engaged, you will be surprised how many opportunities are around you.
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One of the reasons why some people miss out on opportunities is because they are too focused on comfort. They avoid difficult tasks, responsibilities, assignments, and challenges, because they seem uncomfortable or tiring. But what they do not realise is that for growth to happen, then you have to be willing and ready to move out of your comfort zone. Difficult situations and challenges have ways of building your strength, discipline, skills, and your patience.
Hard work also has a way of revealing one's character. This is because difficult moments will test your patience, your attitude, your commitment, and your responsibility. People who remain faithful and disciplined even in difficult moments usually develop more qualities that will prepare them for greater responsibilities in the future, thereby leading to greater accomplishments.
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