Candace Spears
- Nov 29, 2019
- 4 min read

Ep 163: Are you an "OPPORTUNITY WILL knock" or "I WILL knock" person?

LISTEN!

I get irritated by the phrase..."When the right opportunity comes...I'll be ready." There's so much hiding in that sentence. It is self-limiting and self-sabotaging. It's a cute and convenient phrase that we all should ditch if we want to really make moves to create a bigger impact and get to our full-time entrepreneurship position.

In this episode, you'll learn...

The difference between active and passive opportunity
What happens when you only let opportunity knock
How to identify when you need a mindset shakeup

I have met countless people and even some that I know very personally who have dreams and aspirations of doing more than what they do today, starting running their own businesses, getting that off the ground, eventually having that be their main gig. And so often when I have conversations about how things are going and how are things moving in the business, I hear a lot of, "It's okay. I got this done and I got that done. I got all this stuff lined up and I'm super prepared so when the opportunity comes around I am there and I am with it. I am ready" and I just think, "Okay, great, you're ready. What's next? So what are you going to do?" These are all the thoughts coming in my head and that makes me think one, I don't want you to be in this position of constantly being prepared for an opportunity and not seizing an opportunity.

So let's talk a little bit about active and passive opportunities. I may have very well just made up this phrase. I'm not sure, Google it and see, but when I think about opportunities, I think about the two ways, the active opportunities and passive. When it comes to active opportunities, these are the ones where I'm going out and I'm creating them. I am making opportunities. So for instance, when I want to get my voice on other people's podcasts as a guest, I am actively creating those opportunities by seeking out who has a podcast that would be a good fit that I could bring value for their audience and I'm creating those opportunities. Passive opportunities would be the ones that just kind of come and lay in your lap just because you had yourself together and you had things ready, someone stumbled across your name on the internet. They found your blog posts, they heard your podcast, they saw you at a festival that you were vending at and therefore they had an opportunity to present to you. Those are what I consider passive opportunities.

I think that the dilemma is when we allow ourselves to be stuck in just the passive opportunity land, we miss out on so much more that could take us so much faster. So that's why when I hear that phrase, "Okay, I'm already right for when the right opportunity comes along" you're waiting for passive opportunities. Now, what happens when we only wait for the passive and when we don't let that opportunity knock? Yes, of course, you're missing out on going faster and missing out on more, but you are essentially giving up your power to control your journey and to control where you move and how you move because you're in a wait game, you're in a, "I've prepared at all and I'm just waiting." If you keep waiting for opportunity to knock, it will only be when that opportunity knocks that you make that next step and leap that you get in front of the people who need to hear your voice the most that you get your solution and offer in front of someone who is in pain and in need of what you have to say. Do you want that or do you want to lean towards the side of being active, discovering, creating the opportunities that get you out there, your value out there that help the people that you are trying to serve and help you move along faster in your journey to doing this thing full time?

I think that the dilemma is when we allow ourselves to be stuck in just the passive opportunity land, we miss out on so much more that could take us so much faster. (Click to tweet)

Now listen, I think it's important to realize when you need a mindset shakeup. If right now, by this time you're listening (or reading) to this podcast, you're saying, "Okay, I have found myself saying that phrase a lot. Or I have found myself creating and creating and creating and putting together new offers and new bundles and new ways that I can put a new offer in the world or a new piece of content that I can make and all this other stuff." If you've found yourself spending so much time in the creation piece of your business and not enough time in the opportunity space, how do I create my opportunity? How do I make sure my message gets out in front of the people who are waiting to hear from me? They may not know it, but they're waiting to hear from me because you have the solution. That's how you know you need to give yourself a bit of a shakeup.

I think it's important to realize when you need a mindset shakeup. (Click to tweet)

You need to put yourself in the space of, "I not only create an offer value and have solutions and these wonderful things to help people, but I also create the opportunities that get them to know that I am the one to help with them on their journey." I guarantee if you can shake up your mindset and get yourself on the active side of opportunity, you're passive. Don't worry, your passive will come. If you've got your active opportunity nailed down and you've got your offer nailed down, you know you're on the road of who you want to serve, how you want to serve them, what their pains are, don't worry, the passive opportunity will come. Trust me. But you've got to balance out your focus. Don't just sit and wait for the opportunities.