The A-Z Guide For Successful Singles – “O” is for Opportunity

Who hasn’t heard of Susan Boyle?  Until April 2009, no one had heard of her.  She was a single woman living in some tiny obscure village with her cat ‘Pebbles’.  She was unemployed, nearly 48, had never been married – not even kissed.  Her father, who she had been caring for, had died.  Susan was lonely and finally decided to go for her dream and here she was onBritain’s Got Talent.

Speaking with Ant and Deck before she went on stage, Susan Boyle shared how she got into singing.  She was a slow learner when she was young. So when she was 12 years old, she took up singing as a way to help her to feel more confident. “I’ve always wanted to sing in front of a large audience,” she told Ant and Deck.

When she went on stage, Simon Cowell asked her:  “What’s the dream, Susan?”  “To become a professional singer,” she replied.

Most people had already negatively judged her just by her looks and quirky personality when she walked onto the stage, but at this point you could see eyebrows being raised in the audience and I too remember thinking “yeah, right – another individual with some delusional unrealistic dream.”

Simon then asked her, “Why hasn’t it (the dream) worked out?”  And Susan replied, “I’ve never been given the chance before.”

Well, we all know what happend next.  The second Susan Boyle opened her mouth, we all sat mesmerized as she sang“I Dreamed A Dream.”  We were absolutely astonished at the amazing voice were hearing coming from the mouth of this plain, simple, ordinary woman.  In that moment we all fell in love with this ordinary lady who dared to dream her dream.

I’m inspired every time I watch that video or hear Susan Boyle sing.  For me, Susan represents you and me – ordinary people holding on to unrealised dreams.  The sad thing is that the majority of us will continue to hold onto our dreams and never see them realised because we believe, as Susan Boyle did, that we’ve never been given the chance or the opportunity.

I don’t believe that we’ve never been give opportunities.  Britian’s Got Talent has been around for a few years, yet Susan Boyle did seize that opportunity until her pain of being alone drove her to.

Who hasn’t heard of Susan Boyle?  Until April 2009, no one had heard of her.  She was a single woman living in some tiny obscure village with her cat ‘Pebbles’.  She was unemployed, nearly 48, had never been married – not even kissed.  Her father, who she had been caring for, had died.  Susan was lonely and finally decided to go for her dream and here she was onBritain’s Got Talent.

Speaking with Ant and Deck before she went on stage, Susan Boyle shared how she got into singing.  She was a slow learner when she was young. So when she was 12 years old, she took up singing as a way to help her to feel more confident. “I’ve always wanted to sing in front of a large audience,” she told Ant and Deck.

When she went on stage, Simon Cowell asked her:  “What’s the dream, Susan?”  “To become a professional singer,” she replied.

Most people had already negatively judged her just by her looks and quirky personality when she walked onto the stage, but at this point you could see eyebrows being raised in the audience and I too remember thinking “yeah, right – another individual with some delusional unrealistic dream.”

Simon then asked her, “Why hasn’t it (the dream) worked out?”  And Susan replied, “I’ve never been given the chance before.”

Well, we all know what happend next.  The second Susan Boyle opened her mouth, we all sat mesmerized as she sang“I Dreamed A Dream.”  We were absolutely astonished at the amazing voice were hearing coming from the mouth of this plain, simple, ordinary woman.  In that moment we all fell in love with this ordinary lady who dared to dream her dream.

I’m inspired every time I watch that video or hear Susan Boyle sing.  For me, Susan represents you and me – ordinary people holding on to unrealised dreams.  The sad thing is that the majority of us will continue to hold onto our dreams and never see them realised because we believe, as Susan Boyle did, that we’ve never been given the chance or the opportunity.

I don’t believe that we’ve never been give opportunities.  Britian’s Got Talent has been around for a few years, yet Susan Boyle did seize that opportunity until her pain of being alone drove her to.

Opportunities are all around us – the question is:

1. Do you see the opportunities around you? Do you automatically see the obstacles and the problems or do you try and see the opportunity whatever situation presents to you?  In the words of Thomas Alva Edison:

“Opportunity is missed by most people

because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”

1. Once you see an opportunity, do you go after them or do you make excuses – ‘it’s too late’, ‘I’m too old’, ‘I don’t know enough’…….”  Do you spend more time rationalizing why you can’t use an opportunity or do you spend more time seizing an opportunity?   In the words of Marva Collins

“Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it”

The story of Susan Boyle teaches us many things about opportunities and success:

• Susan Boyle did something to combat her lack of self confidence when she was younger
• Susan Boyle dared to dream – She knew what she wanted.  Too often we focus  on what we don’t want.
• Susan Boyle kept her dream alive.  In some ways it was a shame she waited until she was in pain to go for the dream.  We don’t have to wait until we are in pain to go for our dream.
• Susan Boyle seized an opportunity.  The opportunity had been there but this time she did something about it.  When opportunities appear, you have to go for them, they don’t come for you.
• It’s never too late, you’re never too old – those are just excuses.  Rather than focus on “I can’t” why not focus on “How can I . …”   Just get started.  In the words of Martin Luther King:

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step”

Whatever your dream is – whether it be a different job, travelling, getting out of debt or finding your ideal partner believe that there are opportunities all around you.  When you do this, your brain picks up things in your world it previously wouldn’t have picked up.

When you see those opportunities, remind yourself of why you should for them, rather than tell yourself why you can’t go after them.  Oh and remember:

“Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great”

Orison Swett Marden