When Opportunity Comes Knocking…

The Melbourne Football Club has not been a part of footy finals action for over a decade. After years of pain of missing out, the oldest sporting club in Australia now finds itself in the enviable position of playing off for a spot in this year’s AFL Grand Final. As with all sports, opportunities to win premierships and finals can be few and far between. So when the opportunity to win one finally does come around, players and fans alike anticipate it being grasped with both hands.

Likewise, life is filled with many great opportunities. Some are hidden to us in the moment, while others appear much more readily visible. Some seemingly just fall in our lap giving us no way of avoiding them, some we work hard for over long periods of time (eg. a football grand final), while others that present themselves lead us to make a decision on whether we will take the challenge or not.

In the week just past and the week ahead, Mueller students have seized the opportunities presented to them. For some of the students it was a ‘no brainer’, while for others ‘seizing the opportunity’ meant overcoming a significant hurdle first. The Year Sixes ventured far beyond the secure boundaries of family and home when they travelled to Canberra and Melbourne last week. In the days ahead, Secondary students will be involved in the Year 12 Wilderness Trek, State Basketball Championships, US Homestay trip and the New Zealand Ski Trip. Each of them present unique and valuable opportunities – for growth, challenge, enjoyment, overcoming fear, and new experiences.

These trips all sound amazing, as does playing in a Grand Final; but why is that we sometimes don’t take advantage of the opportunities presented to us? Why do we sometimes choose to let opportunities pass by instead of reaching out and grabbing them with both hands? We can justify that it’s not the ‘right time’ or we ‘don’t have the money’. We may hear the little voice that says ‘we might not get the desired results anyway’ or that ‘we might fail, so take precautionary measures’, or ‘this is way outside of my comfort zone and level of ability’. So instead we put it off, procrastinate, succumb to fear, or even stop from looking for any further opportunities that may arise.

At Mueller we certainly want to see students face their fears and take advantage of any potentially great opportunities presented to them. We encourage them to begin to look at the end result and start taking steps toward reaching those possibilities. Here are some suggestions that may help to change how they, and we, can approach opportunities, to help us begin seizing the moment and taking advantage of them when they occur:

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Henry Ford

Review
Taking the time to look back on any past opportunities that were not gone after, and what led to that decision, can be beneficial. Was it a fear (failure, not being good enough, etc.), lack of money or other resources, did you not feel supported by others, or was it from lack of knowledge? Exploring ‘missed’ opportunities can reveal any patterns in behaviour that can be changed.

“Most people miss opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Thomas A. Edison

Challenge
Once the reasons for not following through on opportunities are identified, the thought cycles and patterns surrounding such decisions can be challenged. We cannot know any outcome until it occurs, meaning that certain decision-making processes and subsequent behaviours can be altered and re-directed towards a positive outcome.

“If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade.”
Tom Peters

Awareness
A commitment is needed to pay attention to what occurs in our daily life for situations that can be taken advantage of. A greater awareness will help you to slow down and decide if it is the right time or right decision for you to make, and identify what resources or support might be needed in order for action to be taken.

“How much I missed, simply because I was afraid of missing it.”
Paulo Coelho

Be Fearless
Take action on what you aspire to or dream of without giving fear about it a thought. Not giving into fears keeps you moving forward and, as the saying goes, ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’. Success comes only as a result of previous failures, so don’t let the fear of failure stop you taking action.

Great opportunities don’t come along every day. We need to be equipped to recognize them and be bold to seize them every chance we get. We can learn from the Melbourne Football club; this young, energetic team have seized the opportunities presented to them so far this season, and now face the enormous yet exciting challenge of winning a Preliminary Final this weekend. What an enormous challenge! But with a fearless and calculated approach…… what an amazing opportunity!