One of the great things about where I live, is that I get to meet with some really diverse and interesting people.  Yesterday, I was listening to a local gamekeeper.  He said that someone had told him that they left the door to their rabbit hutch open JUST ONCE and that a fox got in and attacked the rabbits.  Apparently the man whose rabbits were attacked was cursing his luck.

“What bad luck – The one time I leave the hutch open and it’s the same night a fox turns up!”

The gamekeeper explained to the guy, that there was no luck involved.  Apparently, the fox would have been checking on that rabbit hutch every night, just waiting for its chance to come.  When the opportunity came, the fox was ready to take full advantage.

The lesson here?

Someone once told me that luck is what happens, when preparedness meets opportunity.  One of the reasons that so many people end up cursing their luck, is that they are simply not prepared or ready to take advantage, when opportunity comes their way.  For example, they want that BIG sale, yet they never studied how to negotiate; so when the BIG prospective client comes along, they blow it.  They want a TV or radio station to feature them as an expert, when a news story breaks in their industry; yet because they never took any media training, they would waste 90% of the opportunity, if it came along.

So, if a great opportunity came YOUR way right now, how well prepared would you be?

• What time resources would you have, to invest in the opportunity?
• What financial resources would you have, to invest in the opportunity?
• What human resources (contacts) would you have, to invest in the opportunity?
• What relevant expertise would you have, to invest in the opportunity?

Make no mistake, there are some genuinely superb opportunities out there.  However, just sitting and waiting for them to arrive is not a great strategy.  Develop your resources right now, so you have the; time, finances, contacts and expertise required to get the most from future opportunities.