You Owe the Opportunity

Opportunities are everywhere, but they don’t owe you anything.

However, most people expect to be owed their opportunities in life. Because they got the degree, they are automatically owed a job. Because they wrote the book, other people owe it to them to read it. Because they got the job, the company owes it to them to make delivering results easy.

Wrong, wrong, and more wrong.

One of my first bosses used to say, “You owe an opportunity everything while expecting nothing in return.”

Think about that.

He meant that instead of expecting something in return for the opportunity given, I owed the opportunity everything by giving it everything I had.

I don’t expect you to share this newsletter with a friend or email me a thank you. If it happens, it’s nice, but you don’t owe me anything. I owe you everything for allowing me to land in your inbox with the Optimistic Outlook.

I coach a middle school football team in Charlotte, NC. It’s been one of the great joys of my life to pour into these young men. Last weekend, we had a mini-camp, which provided these 12—or 13-year-olds with the opportunity to use the gifts God and their parents have given them.

But the opportunity doesn’t owe them anything. They aren’t owed playing time. They must earn their time.

It’s easy to fall victim to believing the opportunity owes you something because of your effort. But it doesn’t.

Today is your day to remember that whatever opportunity presents itself in life today, you owe it, and not the other way around.

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