How to create new opportunities for yourself

Ever scrolled through your Insta feed and compared your current reality to somebody else’s highlight reel? Potentially thinking to yourself:

“They seem to get all the opportunities.” or “They’re so lucky.”

We are always going to come across people in this life who seem to be in the right place at the right time. Whether they’re the ones travelling the world, landing their dream clients or living a life you deem to be completely out of reach.

You may be thinking…when will it be my turn? Where’s my opportunity?

And before you give yourself a hard time for thinking this way, stop.

We are all entitled to have moments where we start to question what we are doing wrong or why what we are doing isn’t getting us to where we want to be.

Opportunities don’t just spring out of nowhere and give you a tap on the bum to let you know it’s there (unfortunately). And not one person is luckier than the other. Opportunities are everywhere, we have to learn how to identify them, trust ourselves and step into them.

You need to make a conscious effort to push forward, find what you’re looking for and take the leap to create an opportunity for yourself if one isn’t presenting itself.

As Gabby Bernstein likes to say, ‘the Universe has your back’, and she’s not wrong, and often your biggest failures or hardships are an opportunity to change direction, shift things up and find something beautiful on the other side.

So…if you’re wondering where your opportunity is, remind yourself there is opportunity in everything depending on how you’re open to looking at it.

Your opportunities are there waiting for you as well. Are you looking for them? Are you open to them? Do you know what opportunities you're looking for?

You just need to create a different perspective. Let’s dive into three core life areas and how you can create more opportunities for yourself.

Are you ready to create an opportunity?

Career and Business

The average person will spend around 90,000 hours working in their lifetime, and let’s be honest, it’s probably even more! With overtime, side hustles and not to mention the ol’ pandemic that had us glued to our laptops and our work-life balance taking a hit.

If you’re feeling a little stuck or stagnant in your career or business, just know that you are not alone. Even as a business coach I often find myself challenging my direction, the opportunities available to me or better yet completely shifting course in my business.

Creating opportunities on a professional level can feel pretty intimidating, but more often than not some of the most life-changing business opportunities come from the ones you choose to explore without thinking you have to be ‘ready’ or ‘perfect’ to even begin.

Here are 3 ways to create opportunities on a professional level.

1. Network

You no longer need to leave the comfort of your own home when it comes to networking. Jump online and start your search; joining groups, based on industry, role, niche or even location. You are but a handful of criteria away from finding like-minded people. By building a network of contacts you can learn about new opportunities and gain support from others. Social media has a plethora of opportunities and by building your personal brand on LinkedIn you could find yourself inundated with new opportunities.

2. Be open-minded

Gone are the days you have to be university qualified when it comes to your career (unless of course, you’re a doctor or lawyer)! The world is truly your oyster if you want it to be which means you no longer need to limit yourself to only one pathway or industry. Be open to exploring new fields, take on new challenges outside of your comfort zone and pursue passions. I’ve seen teachers turn into personal branding experts and corporate women turn into social media influencers. The online world has afforded you opportunities that were previously harder to come by. Make the most of that.

3. Collaborate

You don’t have to do it alone. Ever. Sometimes the best opportunities are the ones that you find through word of mouth, a friend of a friend, your hairdresser's daughters, teacher's husband. Stop thinking that to create opportunities for yourself you have to do it yourself! We love collaboration, conversation, and community! Working with others can lead to new opportunities and help you achieve your goals SO much faster. You can seek out partnerships and collaborations with like-minded individuals, organisations and more by voicing your wants, needs and desires. What projects can you support, what groups can you help manage, and what other teams can you get involved with to see how they work?

So. Many. Options.

Love and Relationships

No matter whether you are partnered up, married, dating, or just putting yourself out there, it’s always a great time to re-evaluate how to create more opportunities in your love life or platonic relationships for deeper more meaningful connections. The humans you choose to surround yourself with daily are the ones who will see you at your highest points and your lowest, they’re the ones who will cheer you on, love you relentlessly and pull you up on your sh*t.

This is exactly why we should all consider how we can show up as our best selves in the relationships we have. Taking the opportunity to grow as an individual. We can all get caught up in the mix of things, whether you’re building a business, new to parenting or just caught up in the daily grind of work, socialising and trying to keep your head above water.

So, instead of waiting for others to level up, how about you take the lead?

Here are three ways you can create more opportunities in your love life and relationships.

1. Be proactive

Stop waiting for opportunities to come to you. I mean it. It’s time to take the initiative and create your own opportunities by reaching out to those people you admire, or maybe finally taking the leap to ask the ‘hottie’ out at the gym (a simple hi, might be a good starting point!), or maybe even proactively plan the date you have always wanted to go on with your other half instead of waiting for them to do it (cutting your nose off to spite your face rarely ends well). Try new things with friends, have fun, and put yourself out there. We have one life, live it to the fullest.

2. Communicate

Most problems arise from a lack of communication. Fact. More listening. More expressing. More honesty. The more you have open and honest communication; with your other half, your situationship, your family or your friends; the more opportunity will present itself to deepen those relationships. Spend more time together talking about what you want from life, your hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Find out how you can support them in creating opportunities to do more of the things they want to do and in turn how can they return the favour. Try new and exciting things or even re-establish the relationship's intentions. Listen to understand before being understood. Ask questions to better understand them. Allow them to answer without interrupting or making assumptions and offering solutions. There is something quite magical that happens when you learn to communicate effectively in your relationships. They flourish. And so do you.

3. Have more fun

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — prioritise fun. Be flexible and open to new experiences. Find ways to laugh more. Life can be serious. You don’t need to be. Be serious when life demands it and learn to lighten up and bring more fun into your world if it doesn’t. It’s easy to get frustrated and sit in victim mode when things aren’t going your way, but how does that help you? Have a moan and move on. You create your reality by deciding what you think about it. Remember that. Find ways to be more playful and present. Commit to doing something new once a month, switch off your phone and play a game, or go to a comedy night…laughter truly is the best medicine at times!

Personal Growth

Growth is hard. It can be frustrating. It’s rarely linear and more often than not it takes more time than you’d like to see the results. We’re all working in overdrive and without even realising it we often let our growth take a hit to ensure we can provide for those around us and our businesses or career. You put YOU on the back burner. But for you to create opportunities for yourself on a personal level, you have to take responsibility and prioritise yourself.

Here are three ways to create opportunities for your personal growth.

1. Identify your strengths and passions

As humans (specifically women) we can avoid looking at what we are good at or even celebrating our wins, but it’s time to change that. Take the time to reflect on what you're good at and what you enjoy doing. Doing this will help you focus your efforts and identify potential opportunities that align with your skills and interests, not to mention ensure that you do MORE of these things, not less of them! Fill your cup first mentality here.

2. Try new things

Learn new skills. Study. Read. Attend workshops. Opening yourself to new stimuli and ways of thinking will allow you to meet other humans who you align with which opens up opportunities you might not have noticed were there. You’re never too old to try something new, it’s never too late to start again, book the holiday or reinvent yourself. Drop the excuses and get out of your way. It’s YOU who's limiting you. Do the thing.

3. Resilience

You are far more resilient and capable than you give yourself credit for. Creating new opportunities for yourself takes a shift in mindset; they are as available to you as they are to everyone else; it might take time and effort and it’s worth it. Believe in yourself. If it’s possible for others, it’s possible for you. Keep going even if you don't see immediate results or if things don’t look how, you thought they should. If the thought of something taking too long puts us off, remind yourself that the time will pass anyway. You have an entire lifetime to perfect things. It's never about the destination, it’s always the journey that brings us the biggest joy.

Connecting the dots

It’s time to shift your mindset into one of possibility. If you’re feeling frustrated at being stuck, lean into the discomfort to find where those opportunities reside.

Ask more questions, try new things, and pay attention. How many opportunities have you missed with your head stuck in your phone?

New opportunities are everywhere, it’s all about perspective. Opportunity doesn’t have to present itself as huge audacious moments, sometimes is the smallest things that make the biggest difference.

So, how are you going to create more opportunities for yourself?