Everyone desires opportunities, like a good job, business growth, academic success, leadership position, or one form of success or the other. However, one very fundamental truth about success that I have observed is that opportunities will always favour the ones prepared for it. It is true that opportunities may come unexpectedly and even from places you may least expect, but it takes a level of preparedness to be able to even recognise opportunity when it comes, and then maximise it to produce a good result.
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While we were in school, I and a couple of my friends decided to acquire a particular school. We shared the idea with others. Some accepted the idea, while some did not. It was during the break period. So we started the training. The people who accepted contributed some funds and called a facilitator who trained us. The training lasted about 6 weeks and then we gained extensive knowledge about the skills. We did not see an immediate gain in it, but we still acquired it nonetheless. Others said that we were wasting our time, but it did not stop us from completing it.
Fastforward to when we wanted to go for our internship for a couple of months, and there was a particular company that we wanted. The company was highly competitive because a lot of students wanted it, so they brought in another qualification for new intakes. Incidentally, the requirement was that the intakes would have to possess that skill for immediate consideration. Those of us who had it was given instant employment. Then the others were passed through some very rigorous interview processes, which some lost out. You see, the opportunity was available for all of us, but what made a difference was that some were prepared for it, while some did not prepare. This should show you that opportunities often favour the people who are prepared for them.
Preparation includes the process of developing skills, character, knowledge, discipline, and getting ready for future opportunities. More often than not, it happens quietly even long before you will see the reward. But unfortunately, a lot of people only focus on the opportunity that they want to have, while neglecting the processes that would make them to maximise the blessedness in it. Even when the opportunity arrives, they may not be able to take full delivery of it. Imagine someone who wants to become a barrister but he has not taken time to go to law school. If the opportunity comes to be called to bar, they will not include him because he has not attended law school.
One of the reasons why preparation is very important is that opportunities will no give you prior notice or advance information before they come. The question you should ask yourself is; if the job you are waiting for, or the connection you need, or the scholarship you expect, or the leadership role you want, etc, just suddenly come your way, how prepared are you to take delivery of it and maximise it? Those who have invested time, effort, and resources towards building and developing themselves, will be ready to take the next step forward. On the other hand, those who do not prepare themselves will not even know when opportunity comes, and they will keep hoping for it.
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It is worthy to note that preparation gives one extra confidence. If you are going into an examination that you have extensively studied for, for example, there will be a kind of confidence that you will have to be able to pass it well. This is actually the reason why you see athletes train and prepare before they go for competition. When you practice well, it will make you to believe more in your ability to handle new responsibilities. You will agree with me that confidence is not based on wishful thinking, but on competence. You are more likely to perform effectively when you have prepared for a task.
You do not have to wait for the opportunity that you have been wishing for to come knocking at your door first before you prepare for it. In fact, you need to get ready and then live ready. The truth is that the more you prepare, the better your chances to even recognise opportunities when they come, and the more you will be able to take advantage and maximise them.
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