How to Create Opportunities for Yourself

Twice a year, our family gathers from across the country.

We share stories about adventures from the past, what is happening in the present and our hopes for the future. We walk by the sea, breathe in the coastal air and enjoy home-cooked food together.

Every generation is there.

There are young children with most of their lives ahead of them, older relatives who entertain us with stories from a world before modern technology, and those in the middle who are living their lives and creating stories they may tell in years to come.

The idea of life as a story resonates with me.

We write its pages every day. Some days bring adventure. Some become important turning points. Others simply carry us from one part of the story to the next.

We cannot control everything that happens, but we can influence the story. We can give it a new direction, introduce a new possibility or begin changing it altogether.

During our latest gathering, I spoke to a family member who was frustrated with their employer. The company they work for seems interested only in finding new customers, rather than retaining the customers it already has.

I said, “You have a choice. You can stay where you are and still feel frustrated in six months, or you can begin creating opportunities for yourself.”

That might mean asking someone for an introduction to an organisation you would like to work for or applying for one job each week. You could enrol on a training course or contact someone who already works in the field you want to enter.

One of the ways we become stuck is by believing that nothing can change until someone else changes it for us.

We imagine that someone will notice our work, discover our potential or arrive with the opportunity we have been waiting for.

The fact is, it rarely happens that way.

Creating an opportunity does not mean controlling the outcome. It means taking an action that makes a different outcome possible.

There may already be jobs advertised and courses available.
But they may not suit you. They may not exist in the area, organisation or niche that interests you.

This is where you can begin to influence the story.

Reach out to someone. Ask for an introduction. Share an idea.
Learn a useful skill. Start a small project.
Bring together people with a shared interest.
Create something that gives others a reason to respond.

Not every action will lead somewhere.
But without the action, the possibility may never exist.

When you choose what matters for your next Eightly, ask yourself:
Have I chosen only what maintains my current situation, or have I made room for something that could create a new opportunity?

You do not have to rewrite your whole story tomorrow.
You only need to choose one action that could change what happens next.