Don't wait for Career Opportunities to come knocking. Create Them.
Updated: 3 days ago
“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” Chris Grosser
Are you ready to create career possibilities, rather than wait for them to turn up at your door?
Opportunities aren’t just chance occurrences. They’re possibilities you can notice, weigh up and act on. Over the last 20-odd years I’ve made a habit of doing exactly that, and I shared some of those stories in a Founders Day speech at my old secondary school. Here’s the version for anyone who’s wondering how to design the work life they actually want.
Opportunities Are Choices
Opportunities are future possibilities that are open to you at a point in time. They don’t land on a silver platter. You have to:
Notice them. Be curious and keep your eyes and ears open.
Consider them.
Decide about them.
Act on them.
Most people stall at step 3 and never reach step 4.
That choice-making matters more than we think. In August 2023, I decided to apply for the OLA Fellowship from my old school. I was fortunate enough to receive it late that year. If you’d told me back in July that I’d be giving a Founders Day speech, or that the training the fellowship funded would expand my business so much, I wouldn’t have believed you. One decision, made in one month, shaped my path further than I could have imagined.
The Sport I Had No Room For
When I was 14, a teacher asked me to try out for the water polo team. I played baseball, basketball, swimming, javelin, hockey and surf life saving. My week was full, and I had never heard of water polo.
I went to the try-out anyway. I made the Victorian team that year and ended up playing at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. Over the years it gave me two intervarsity campaigns and lifelong friends, five years playing State League 1, and four years (and counting) coaching juniors.
None of that happens if I’d let “but I know nothing about it” make the decision for me.
Choose Courage Over Comfort
Here’s what happens when an opportunity appears.
Your subconscious jumps in to keep you safe. It focuses on the risks and nudges you back towards your comfort zone.
That’s natural, and it’s also how a lot of good opportunities get missed.
Think about the last time you were faced with an oppoartunity.
What were your first thoughts?
Were they “this could be amazing”, or a list of everything that could go wrong?
My mum was the best coach I ever had on this. Her questions were always the same. What’s the worst that could happen? Is that so bad? What have you got to lose? More often than not, the worst case wasn’t that bad at all.
If you’re sitting in a career that no longer fits and the fear is loud, this is the practice: ask the question, then lean in anyway.
Know What’s Important to You
Courage isn’t the same as saying yes to everything. It helps to know your values, what you stand for, and your passions and purpose. When an opportunity lines up with those, jump towards it.
At 16, my dad asked if I wanted to write a book with him, combining our knowledge of study techniques. I was in Year 11 and already stretched thin with sport and school, so it would have been easy to say no. But I was curious, and it fitted who I was. I wanted to learn about writing and publishing a book.
I ended up interviewed live on Good Morning Australia, doing 20 radio interviews across the country and appearing in the major papers.
Plenty of 16-year-olds would have hated that. For me it played right into my natural strengths: I love talking, telling stories and influencing people. It worked because the opportunity matched the person I was, not because I got lucky.
Opportunities Require Action
When I started uni I discovered you could go on exchange overseas. I wanted to travel, and I also wanted to start and finish uni with my friends. This was a way to do both.
Nobody came looking for me. I went straight to the exchange office and asked for the information. I found out scholarships were available for living costs, so I applied for the Penn State exchange and the scholarship. I was awarded both. I studied in America, then travelled the world with friends on the way home.
If I’d waited to be tapped on the shoulder, I’d still be waiting.
“You’re So Lucky”
People tell me I’m lucky all the time, as if things just happen for me.
I don’t think it’s luck.
There’s an old saying, often credited to Seneca, that luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
I plan.
I know what I want.
I dream about the future, talk to people, and keep checking in on my passions, purpose and values.
So when an opportunity arrives, I’m ready.
It might look like luck from the outside, but I believe it’s the universe delivering something I’ve been planning and dreaming about for a while.
I had parents who backed me, and a school that taught courage, curiosity, creativity and relationships. Not everyone starts with that. The good news is that curiosity and courage are skills, and you can build them at any age.
Engage With Life
Almost everything above came down to one thing: engagement. If you don’t engage with life, opportunities pass you by. Say yes to new experiences, try new things, and act before the opportunity vanishes.
That goes for your career too. If you’re stuck, drifting or quietly wondering whether there’s something better out there, that’s usually an invitation. You can shape your destiny, one opportunity at a time, so don’t waste them.
Take the Next Step
If you’re ready to create opportunities rather than wait for them, I’d love to help. My coaching gives you a framework to get clear on your direction, build a bridge between where you are now and where you want to be, and choose opportunities that fit your values and strengths.
Book a free Career Strategy Chat and let’s talk about what you’re working through right now.
Don’t wait for opportunities. Create them!
Binny
Book a Free Career Strategy Chat HERE
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