Are You Prepared for What Comes with Opportunity?

“When you knock on the door of Opportunity,
do not be surprised that it is Work who answers.”
~Brendon Burchard

You dream of opportunities. You wait for them. You seek them out. Maybe you even feel bold enough to knock on Opportunity’s door. But do you know who opens the door and what that means for you? Are you prepared for what comes with Opportunity?

Whether you know it or not, when you receive the opportunities you seek, you must rise to that meet them. You must change, grow and do the work entailed to bring that opportunity to fruition. You must rise to the challenge.

Indeed, as the quote above states, Work opens the door to your next opportunity. It opens the door, welcomes you in and then requires that you continue walking in its shoes—not fall to your knees or quake in your boots.

Yes, opportunity requires work. Are you prepared to do the work that comes with opportunity?

Run and Hide

Have you ever had the door to Opportunity open, and instead of walking through to meet Work, you run and hide? Or you begin to tremble and find yourself in a fetal position before you know what happened? I know I have.

Recently, I received word that a particular publisher was interested in a book idea of mine. I’ve wanted to write this book, which is much different from the other books I’ve published to date, for a long time. And I’ve dreamed of a partnership with this publishing house. The request for a book proposal represented a dream opportunity.

So what did I do? I put off writing the proposal. To be fair to myself, I had some personal and professional commitments to meet. But, each time I thought about the proposal, I found something else to do—something other than the work required. I hid from the work and didn’t take advantage of the opportunity.

Face Fear

Eventually, I did write the proposal and submit it. I came out of hiding and did the work.

And if I get a book contract based on that proposal, I will take Work’s hand and walk through Opportunity’s door…gladly!

However, to do this I have to face Fear.

When Opportunity’s door opens, Fear grabs you by your shoulders while Work stares you in the face. Fear might look like Doubt or Low Self-Worth. They have different names and faces but are based on your false belief systems. You believe you aren’t strong enough to do the work. You believe you aren’t good enough to do an excellent job or meet expectations. But these beliefs are not based on fact. You have no real evidence to support them, just subjective and one-sided evidence you have compiled. That’s why fear is often used as an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real.

To prepare for Opportunity, you must lean to deal with Fear and its buddies.  You also must create a different belief system based on truth. You must change, grow and rise to the occasion.

Your Opportunity

In fact, every day you stand at Opportunity’s door. You face Fear and Work. It takes Work, which often looks like Courage, to overcome or overpower Fear. But you can do it. You can prove to yourself that your fears are not based upon evidence. They are not real.

When you do this, you walk through Opportunity’s door…or take a step into the doorway…and start on the work you were meant to do in the world.

At that point, you realize you never had any reason to stop in the doorway and refuse Work’s invitation or choose to hang out with Fear (or its buddies). And you know Opportunity doesn’t expect you to knock but to walk in and make yourself at home. The door is never locked; often it is ajar and Opportunity waits for you to swing it wide open and enter.

Yes, Work still waits on the other side.The more you befriend Work, the more Opportunity becomes your home.