I firmly believe that, in life, you should maximise your human experience. Life is for living. We have been given this great opportunity at life – to experience it in full, to have ups, to have downs, to learn, to grow, to help others, to see the world, to do good. In order for you to maximise this experience we call “life”, it’s important that you make seizing opportunity a priority in your life.
Now, I am not necessarily talking about random opportunities that present themselves to you. I don’t mean that you should take the opportunity when someone offers you a job you know you will hate, for example! What I mean is that you should seize the opportunity that life itself presents to you.
You see, you can either go through this life and get to the end and realise you are living with the regret of things not done, that you regret time wasted, that you wasted your life, or that you feel like you took life too seriously, or, you can get to the end of your life and be glad that you seized the day, that you seized the opportunity of living and did everything you wanted to do with it – that you followed your dreams, that you did that thing you were scared to do, that you lived a life of adventure.
What it means to seize opportunities
So, again, I am not talking about some random opportunity you don’t really care about, here. I am not saying that if you are given an opportunity to do something you are really not interested in, that you should do it.
What I am talking about is the opportunity that is presented by life itself.
You have the opportunity to go out in the world and be whatever you want to be and do whatever you want to do. You have the opportunity to make change, to make people smile, to make a difference, to live life to the full – whatever it is you want.
But if you ignore that opportunity, then the quality of your life will degrade. You will feel like you aren’t growing and, worse, that you are dying inside.
We are put on this planet to go after everything in life that means something to us. We should be going out and striving to do the things that we really care about.
When it comes down to it, you don’t want to live your life realising you should have done more. We should be taking the opportunities this life presents us and taking full advantage.
We should be aiming to get the best experience out of life!
Why seizing opportunity must be a priority for you
Let’s get right down to it – life is short. Sometimes it might not seem like it is, but it is. Time passes fast. You don’t want to get to the point where you are living with massive regret over the things you haven’t done. Trust me. I have massive regret over not following my dreams when I should have and feeling like I wasted so much time.
Fortunately, I have stepped through that, and am now going after everything I desire. Because I know that those things are going to be what make me happy.
Do not let the pain of regret become a reality for you. Do everything you want to do with this life. And if you are living with regret right now over time wasted, know that it is never too late for you. It should be your priority to do the things now that really mean something to you. Whether it’s things you should have done before, or whether it’s new things, you have a responsibility to yourself to go after them.
You can’t let this stuff sit on the back burner. You must make it a priority. If you don’t make it a priority to seize opportunities in life, then life will pass you by and you will end up regretting it. Don’t live in the shadow of what you could be or do. Instead, go out there and live life to the full. Seize the day. Seize the opportunities.
Why you should (usually) seize the opportunities you have
As humans, if we don’t feel like we’re growing, then we feel like we’re dying. Usually, taking an opportunity will make us feel like we are growing. If you seize an opportunity, then you will usually be forced to operate outside of your comfort zone. And the times that we operate outside of our comfort zones are the times that we really grow.
On top of this, we don’t like to feel stagnant – that we aren’t going anywhere. Taking opportunities that are in front of you will often lead you in new directions. They will help you to see things that you didn’t see before. They will open new doors and make you think about things differently.
Sometimes, of course, there are opportunities you should not take. But I wager that you would know what they are deep down. They are the kind of things that you know you don’t really want to do. You don’t really need to second guess that. If you know in your heart of hearts that you don’t want to do something, then don’t do it.
This is about taking opportunities that really mean something to you. Opportunities that you really want.
And this doens’t have to be opportunities that are just presented to you by others, just as a job or experience. These can also be opportunities that you can create.
Let’s say you want to go and do something unique, like make a movie. Not many people go and do that off their own backs. And it’s incredibly unlikely someone is going to randomly come up to you and offer you to do that for not reason. But if you know you want to do it, then you can take that opportunity you have presented to yourself.
Again, this can be – and in many ways is – about you taking the opportunities that you give to yourself just by thinking about them.
Another example. If you have an idea for a new company, you can take the opportunity to pull that company together. You do not need someone else to come to you and give you permission or offer you to start it. You can take that opportunity yourself.
This is about knowing what you want in life and deciding to seize the opportunity and do that thing.
Why you must seize the opportunity in front of you
If you are looking at something you really want to do – let’s say you want to step out of your comfort zone and do something new – then that is the thing that is really going to make you happy. And that’s the game we are really in in life – feeling a certain way about ourselves.
We’ve all had times where we just don’t feel good about ourselves. That’s when the expectation for our lives doesn’t match what the reality of our lives is.
Well, that’s what an opportunity we really want points us to. We must take opportunities towards that thing that we want so that we can grow in that area, do more of it, experience joy, and feel truly alive.
Going and taking an opportunity that you really want is going to be something that moves you towards a place of happiness, doing something you love.
When you do that, you will feel like your life might be starting to match your expectation of it, and then you will feel happier.
How to seize an opportunity
Seizing an opportunity is as simple as believing in yourself and deciding to do it. It does not have to be complicated. Do not make it more complex than that.
If you want something, if you want to do something, if you want to be something, if you want to ahcieve something – go after that. Give yourself permission to seize that opportunity.
Decide to take the opportunity. This is your life. Go do it.
And when you decide to do that, then get started on it straight away. Even if you only have 30 seconds to put a plan in motion – like sending an e-mail to someone you want to work with, or telling a friend of your goal, or making a call to someone you want to connect with, or writing one paragraph of a book – you should do it right away.
Then, when you have more time, pick it up again. Then just keep going.
Keep believing in yourself and keep going.
Eventually, seizing opportunity will become your default. You just need to start, and you need to beleive in yourself.
Conclusion – Seize this opportunity you have been given in life. Take the opportunity now.
If you have read this post and realise that you are living with the regret of having wasted so much time in your life, know that it is okay and it is recoverable. Take it from someone else who feels the same way! I feel like I could have done so much more with my life than I have. But the point is that we look forward to the opportunity that is in front of us. Don’t squander the time you have now by living in the past. Go forwards and take advantage of life. Take advantage of the opportunity in front of you.
Go out there and live the life of your dreams. Go and do that thing you always wanted to do. Go travel. Go make a movie. Go climb Mount Everest. Whatever it is you want to do, you should do that. You only get one chance in life.
So seize this opportunity and follow those dreams of yours. Know that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. So go do it now!
What opportunity do you see that you can seize right now? Let me know in the comments below!
Further Reading around seizing opportunity
If you are struggling to decide on whether or not to take an opportunity you have been presented with, check out that post.
If you feel like you should have taken opportunities earlier and are living with regret, check out that post on how to get over regret. Or maybe you like little lines of inspiration. These quotes on regret may help you.
If you know you want to go out there and experience life but don’t know what to do, check out this post on figuring out your aim in life or this one on finding your life mission.
If you feel like you’ve wasted your life or wasted so much time in your life, and wondering if it’s too late to follow your dreams, those posts are for you. And if you are wondering if you should follow your dreams, check that post out.
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