Affirmation Challenge Day 7 [Opportunities]: ‘Opportunities are everywhere. It’s up to me to find (or create) them and make things happen.’

This is Day 7 of the 15-Day Affirmation Challenge held in July 2014, where we practice positive affirmations for 15 days. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.

Affirmation Challenge

Dear everyone, welcome to Day 7 of our 15-Day Affirmation Challenge! :D

Here is the overview of all the posts for the challenge so far:

Now, let’s move to today’s task, which is on…

Day 7: [Opportunities]

Affirmation Wallpaper, [Opportunities]: "Opportunities are everywhere. It's up to me to find (or create) them and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN."

 Today’s affirmation: “Opportunities are everywhere. It’s up to me to find them (or create them) and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.”

About one year before I started PE, I remember looking for ways to pursue my passion to help others grow. This was between years 2007 and 2008. (The next four paragraphs are snippets from my article, Passion or Money?)

As personal development was at an infancy stage in Singapore (it still is actually), I couldn’t find any jobs in this area. (And I’m talking about proper jobs where you get remunerated, not be a “volunteer” coach and work long hours without compensation.) If I had told anyone I wanted to be a life coach, they would have gone, “Huh?” If anything, most people here see self-help as something kooky for people who have no life, who are neurotic, or have gone off the deep end. (I believe this perception is changing now.)

Since there were no opportunities in this domain, I then thought about seeking out a societal cause, since it’s within the scope of helping people too. I brainstormed on local non-profit organizations with socially responsible causes which I could join. I checked out the United Nations website to look for job opportunities. I expanded my search to international non-profit career portals and scouted for opportunities in NGOs, social enterprises and the like. It even got to the stage where I was willing to relocate myself overseas, using my own money, and work for any worthy enterprise that matched my purpose.

Bear in mind that in deciding to switch to a different field, particularly non-profit, I was prepared to get a pay cut of 50% (or even more), since such fields simply don’t offer the same competitive benefits as a career in brand management or consulting would (of which the former was what I was doing).

For each opportunity I came across, I always found myself having to battle against considerations such as 1) the pay and benefits not being anywhere close to what I was getting in my current job, 2) the causes of the organizations not being something I was 101% passionate about, 3) severe red tape issues in non-profit organizations, 4) lack of best-in-class practices in the non-profit world compared to profit-driven industries. My friends whose friends had trod the non-profit path would give me the same watchouts. I felt myself reaching a dead end.

It took me a while before I felt that something was amiss. Why am I trying to compromise on my own desires? I thought. Why am I limiting myself based on what’s out there?

I realized that I was simply boxing myself based on what I was seeing before me, and then I should no sooner break free of this mindset. I then got to work and identified my ideal vision for the pursuit of my passion, which includes being able to touch millions of lives around the world, using an arsenal of mediums to spread my message of growth, being location-free to do whatever I want, wherever I want, and earning more money than whatever I was earning before. I then sent in my resignation letter, created my game plan based on this vision, and got to work. The rest is history.

My reason for sharing this story is that the switching point that helped me to be where I am today is when I realized that there are literally opportunities everywhere in this world, and it’s up to me to create them and make things happen. While I was already a proactive person before (or I wouldn’t be thinking about how to pursue my passion and seeking related opportunities while having a lucrative job), I was still boxing myself in based on opportunities out there and trying to limit myself to these opportunities before me. It was only when I realized that opportunities are everywhere and the onus is on me to figure out what exactly I want and make them happen.

Because the universe ain’t gonna hand the good stuff to people on a platter. The universe makes the good stuff — from the ideal relationship, to the ideal job, to the ideal friendships, to financial abundance, to the perfect health, etc. — difficult to obtain so that the people who really want it, the people who really deserve it, will find a way to make them happen.

Today, your task is to identify an area where you’ve been feeling blocked in and create the opportunity to succeed in it!

Your Task Today

  1. Identify an area of your life where you feel blocked by a lack of choices/opportunities. This can be something that you’ve already listed in the previous tasks or a completely new area you haven’t explored. For example:
    • Friendships, where you feel you don’t have the opportunity to meet like-minded people
    • Romantic relationships, where you feel you don’t have the opportunity to meet the right person
    • Career, where you feel you don’t have the opportunity to be in your dream job
    • Health, where you feel you frequently lack the opportunities to eat healthily, be it due to the lack of healthy eating options in your neighborhood or due to people around you offering you unhealthy food
    • Finance, where you feel you don’t have the opportunity to be rich even though you are smart and talented
  2. Ask yourself, “How can I create the opportunity to succeed in this area?” For example:
    • Friendships: Look for meet-up groups with like-minded people on Meetup.com and join at least two meetups a week
    • Romantic relationships: Open myself to singles events. Join more social activities and meetups which are opportunities to meet new people. Explore online dating.
    • Career: Contact people working in the field you desire, and consult them for advice and tips. (Among other steps I’ve listed in Day 4’s career example.) 
    • Health: Take control of my diet and start preparing my own healthy meals, as opposed to eating based on the options in my environment
    • Finance: Figure out what I’m really passionate about. Then, create ways — perhaps even start my own business — where I can add value to others based on this passion. Scale up from here. (Read: Million Dollar Tip Series and Successful Businesses Interview Series.)
  3. Take action on what you’ve written in Step #2! Create specific action steps and commit them to your calendar. Remember, there’s no point planning without taking action, and there’s only so much I can do via the daily affirmation tasks. The onus is now on you to take action on them!
  4. Say today’s affirmation. Close your eyes. For the next 10 to 15 seconds, imagine your ideal vision for this area where you feel felt blocked. Now, visualize yourself breaking through the obstacle(s) and paving the way to realize your ideal vision. Visualize yourself CREATING A PATH, WHERE THE PATH DIDN’T EXIST BEFORE, TO MAKE YOUR VISION COME TO LIFE. CONTINUE THIS VISUALIZATION FOR AS LONG AS YOU DESIRE, until the vision is fully etched in your mind.

    Now, with the vision clear in your mind, say today’s affirmation:

    “Opportunities are everywhere.
    It’s up to me to find them (or create them) and
    MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.”

    (If you think it’s silly to say them out loud, you can say them silently in your heart.)

I encourage you to write down your new belief(s) and today’s affirmation so that you can always see them and commit them to your heart. Repeat them every day to yourself, for as many times and as long as needed, until they become part of your default thinking.

Affirmation Wallpaper: [Opportunities]

Today’s affirmation wallpaper, for download:

Affirmation Wallpaper, [Opportunities]: "Opportunities are everywhere. It's up to me to find (or create) them and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN."

Download (right click and save): [1366×768] [1600×900] [1920×1080]

Further Reading 

Share Your Results!

Share your results, check out other participants’ responses, and interact with each other in the comments section! Remember, this challenge is a community effort: by openly engaging in the discussion, not only will you help others, you’ll also help yourself.

If you think today’s affirmation has benefited you, do share it with your friends and family.

Once you’re done, proceed to Affirmation Challenge Week 1 Review and Catchup!

(Images: Flower, Girl blowing bubbles)

About

Hi, I’m Celes. Thanks for reading. Personal Excellence is where I write about how to live our best life as we tackle life’s challenges. About Me »

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