The quote above from the 1st century B.C. shows just how long humans have been looking for opportunity and finding the best ways to capture it. Grabbing opportunity has more to do with instinct and less to do with thinking. It’s a gut reaction to something new and exciting and potentially noteworthy.

Many of us tend to think of opportunity in business terms: a new job opportunity, an opportunity to make more money, an opportunity to show your boss what you’re worth. Opportunity also takes other forms. A random call from your mother may be an opportunity for you to tell her you love her. A solicitation from your favorite charity in the mail may be an opportunity for you to give back to your community.

Your assignment today is to look back through the previous week and list times when you have missed an opportunity. Journal for about fifteen minutes or so about why you didn’t grab on to those opportunities and what you could do in the future to make a different choice.

DAY

30

“A missed opportunity is worse than a defeat.”

 — Anonymous

This is the last day in our miniseries on opportunity, and it’s a sobering quote. Can missed opportunity really be worse than a defeat? Yes, it can! When you miss an opportunity, you didn’t even bother to show up for the game. It’s not as if you made an attempt and lost. You didn’t play.

It is worse than defeat, because you have no idea if you might have won. Every opportunity is a chance for success, and you can’t win if you don’t play. Are you in the game? Or are you standing on the sidelines watching the players go back and forth, never taking part in the action yourself?