Here’s a little secret: Nobody is ever 100% ready or prepared. Those who succeed, however, are the people who are willing to say YES, and run with the opportunities as they present themselves.
I’ve talked about having my own business for quite awhile now. A few years ago as I chatted with my massage therapist during a session, she got really excited and told me about this program she was putting together, and asked if I’d like to offer my business as part of the reward pack! Amazing!!! What a huge opportunity being simply handed to me.
I even had an entire month to get my stuff together. But at the time, I had no “business” per se, just an idea. I had no website, no business cards, no outline of what I would even offer. Instead of jumping off that freaking massage table and getting to work, I hummed and hawed, I made excuses, and in the end I convinced myself that there simply wasn’t enough time to do it “right,” and that it clearly wasn’t the right opportunity for me or it would have come at a more convenient moment.
*snort!* Oh boy, have I learned differently. Anybody who is successful in any area of their life will tell you that the opportunities that got them where they are did NOT, in fact, show up at the most opportune times. The only difference, is that they said, “Absolutely,” when something was offered to them, and they worked their butts off to make it happen. Were they totally freaked out? Yup. Pretty much every one of those people will openly admit to being somewhere between really nervous and totally terrified, BUT THEY DID IT ANYWAY.
Huh. How ‘bout that. So, what if I’d say “yeehaw!” to that business offer I’d had? By now I would have that experience under my belt. I’d have figured out and implemented some sort of game plan. Maybe it was exactly what I wanted to do and it went off without a hitch, and I’d be 5 years further along that career path. Or maybe it didn’t turn out the way I’d have liked and I shifted gears, and then I’d be 5 years further along a different career path. Regardless, I would have done something, headed somewhere, and who knows where that opportunity would have led.
by McKinnley