Life is all about the dream. Whether that’s climbing the corporate ladder, finding a new job or starting your own business, you have to have the courage to spot the opportunity and grab it! Your dreams should never be deferred because you failed to grab an opportunity. Do you recall what Langston Hughes said happens to a dream deferred? The results did not resemble success in any form. You have to confidently take advantage of opportunities because they don’t come often. 

Here are three things to remember so you can seize any opportunity that comes your way:

DON’T BE SHY
Statistically, women always undervalue and second-guess themselves. It’s like we have these little voices that are constantly telling us the opportunity is out of our league. But it’s not! If you’ve dedicated the time to your development and your vision is clear, I’m sure you have an opportunity, not an insuperable challenge, leading the way for your dream to become a reality. So believe in yourself and seize it! When you don’t believe in yourself you will always feel unprepared, even when you really are. The most successful people never felt prepared at first. But they believed in themselves and their dream. They knew there were unknowns within their dreams, but their passionate belief and drive for that were powerful. When an opportunity presents itself, the final decision is normally based on a person’s drive and passion. So stand tall when the opportunity presents itself, you never know who’s watching.

TIMING
It will always seem like bad timing. You may feel like there’s too much on your plate currently. Or that there is too much going on in your personal life. But the plate will always be full in someone’s eyes. Life is always happening. And guess what, she loves to throw you curve balls! But that’s what makes it so awesome. Time and time again, I’ve thought I had too much going on personally, or too much on my plate at work. But every time I completed a goal while “too much” was happening, I felt like Wonder Woman in the end. It’s an amazing feeling to know you’ve pushed your potential to a new height.

DEDICATION IS KEY
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes at least 10,000 hours to become proficient in something. That’s a lot of hours. But what he also mentions that’s extremely important is that until you’re dedicated to something, the learning curve (aka opportunity for your dream) will always appear steep. My friends always joke that I arrive places early and am busy reading articles or books on business development and branding when they arrive. But they respect and understand how dedicated I am to my dreams and goals. That dedication to learn and become proficient is important for me to confidently seize opportunities when they’re presented to me. By dedicating time to your development, you naturally force those that can give you the opportunity to continue to listen when you knock on their door.

If you meet someone that can help your dreams become a reality, don’t hold back. We all have goals and dreams, and most of the time there is someone we encounter in our everyday life that can help make that happen or inspire us to make it happen. Opportunities aren’t handed out and they don’t happen every day. You’ve been putting in all this hard work right? So, the next time opportunity knocks, open the door with a smile and give it your best shot!

Remember,

Give your brand the good life!