How to Get Over Missed Opportunities

Everyone has had a moment in life they’ve been presented with an opportunity and they’ve decided to let it pass them by. Each day was met with a moment of regret about not taking advantage of that opportunity. The regret starts to impact every decision you make going forward wondering about what could’ve been. 

How do you get over missed opportunities in your life? You get over missed opportunities by accepting the reality of it and moving on. Every opportunity isn’t for you even when it’s presented to you.

The life you have today is a result of all of the decisions you’ve decided to make and not to make in your life. Forgive yourself for the decision and focus your time on doing what’s necessary to be ready for the next opportunity that may be worth your time to explore.

What is an opportunity?

An opportunity is defined as a favorable situation for a positive outcome. It’s the possibility of doing something. That possibility does not mean that you’re actually going to be successful, it just means that you have the option of taking a chance towards getting something done.

An opportunity is a chance to do something great. It means you may have to do that thing more than one time to get to the desired result. An opportunity is not magic but requires work. Opportunities can vary in size and can come as planned or can come out of nowhere. The key is to know what opportunity is so that you know what steps to take next.

Opportunities are not one size fits all

Not all opportunities that you’ll see in your life are worth your time. Some opportunities are really distractions dressed as opportunities when in fact all you’re going to do is spend a lot of time working in the opposite direction of where you need to go to get towards your goal. Grab opportunities that are worthy of your time, not just things that are put in front of you.

Just because someone says you should do something does not mean you need to do that something. Be discerning when assessing opportunities because what works for someone else does not necessarily work for you. Opportunities aren’t always shaped for everyone to have the same level of success so proceed with caution but be strong enough to proceed when it’s reasonable.

Forgive yourself

Don’t live in regret. You will feel regret but don’t stay in that place and let it paralyze you. The future you would have expected was just a guess, you didn’t know what would have happened.

You can’t spend the rest of your life replaying the situation and wondering what would have happened had you taken the opportunity. Just because you didn’t take that road doesn’t mean that if you would have taken it, it would have been better for you.

Don’t beat yourself up. You made the best decision you could at the time with the information you had at that moment. Use it as a moment to learn so that next time you are able to identify an opportunity that you should take advantage of and then identify the steps you need to take in order to succeed.

Just because the opportunity worked out for others does it mean it would have worked for you. Your story and your life are yours to have and cannot be owned by anyone else.

Get ready for the next opportunity

If you stay ready you don’t have to get ready. If an opportunity came to you every minute of the day but you weren’t ready to seize on those opportunities, having access to multiple opportunities is a waste. Make sure that when an opportunity does present itself that you are ready to take advantage of it.

The way to make sure you’re ready for a new opportunity is by volunteering to learn a new skill or network with individuals connected to where you want to be. You could also take courses, read books, or even practice in the very thing that you’re aspiring to become.

An opportunity is only available to those who are ready to seize on that moment. If you’re not ready it was not an opportunity, it was merely just an option.

Pass up opportunities on purpose

All opportunities don’t lead to the desired outcome. Be discerning. If the information doesn’t make sense follow your gut and walk away. Just because you choose not to take advantage of an opportunity doesn’t mean that life won’t be great.

Things not working out sometimes means things did work out. Imagine where you’d be if all the things that you wanted to work out did workout versus didn’t? Life happens the way that it should. What’s important is how we respond to what happens.

Don’t be afraid to walk away from an opportunity after deciding you wanted to explore it. It’s your life and you always have the option of changing your mind. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be consequences for deciding to stop exploring an opportunity once you’ve started.

Never be afraid to speak up and say I don’t think this is for me. When you know that the opportunity is not for you, no matter where you are in that process, speak loudly and with authority. Remember, the decisions you make and don’t make have an overall impact on your life.

Create opportunities don’t wait for them

If you want an opportunity, the best thing you can do is not wait for them to present themselves to you but to create them. When you create opportunities you’re in the driver’s seat and have ultimate control. Creating opportunities allows you to mold and shape the opportunity into what you need to support your plan for success.

Find your niche and identify what you love. The very thing that makes you stand out from a crowd could be the thing you can be very successful and build an empire. It all starts with an opportunity and being prepared to seize on that opportunity.

Develop a plan and work the plan and modify that plan as necessary. When you work your plan, you’ll know you took full advantage of any opportunity you choose to explore and won’t hang onto any regret for opportunities you choose to let pass.