Be Prepared When Opportunity Comes
Posted by Michelle Moquin on November 7th, 2008
How many times in your life has opportunity walked through the door, and surprise, you were not prepared? You could not benefit from the opportunity and in fact you may have even missed the opportunity all together because you were not ready in whatever manner would have made you successful when opportunity knocked. In fact you may have thought that you were ‘unlucky’, but the simple fact was, you were not prepared. You have no one to blame but yourself because of your lack of preparedness.
How many times in your life has opportunity walked through the door, and you were ready, prepared to meet that opportunity? You had all your bases covered, ‘just in case’. And when success came it looked as if it was effortless in everyone else’s eyes – they considered you ‘lucky’. But you weren’t ‘lucky’, you were just prepared in whatever means were necessary to reach your end result.
In that instant, you can smile to yourself knowing that all ‘luck’ is, is when preparation and opportunity meet. Simple. When you’re prepared, your chance for success will come. You can change chance into good fortune if you are ready.
How about second chances? When opportunity knocks the second time around will you look at it differently than the first? Was it ‘luck’ or fate that blessed you with a second chance?…Does it really matter? The point is, you have a second chance – Are you prepared…fully equipped, ready for anything? Will you honor this ‘luck’ or this ‘fate’ no matter how you acquired it and recognize that second chances don’t come around too often, and maybe….just maybe, there is good reason.
How stupid would it be if all of your efforts were for naught because you were not prepared? Don’t be stupid. Don’t blow the opportunity. Be prepared. Because the only sure thing about ‘luck’ is that it will change. Why take the chance? How smart it would be, to be as prepared as you could possibly be, to ensure that when the opportunity presents itself…when you have a chance to be successful and reach your goal….lady ‘luck’ is on your side.
Readers: Are you making sure ‘luck’ is on your side? Share – blog me. If you can’t blog me, email me.
Unfortunately my big plans for the day were changed…I am off to work – Have a good one.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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November 7th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Lessons in Life and Leadership from Machiavelli
Richard Vetere
Italian political strategist Niccolo Machiavelli was born in 1469 and died in 1527, but his ideas remain remarkably relevant. Sayings derived from his writings, such as “The end justifies the means” and “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” are still in use, and his political treatise, The Prince, is still in print.
For many people, the term “Machiavellian” suggests manipulative behavior, and they mistakenly believe that Machiavelli advocated immorality. He was a realist who believed that a leader should put the welfare of his people ahead of moral concerns, but he warned against immorality. Here, lessons we all can learn from him…
Anticipating the worst and taking action can overcome bad luck. Machiavelli acknowledged that our success and failure can be determined by things beyond our control, but he also believed that the role of chance could be minimized. It’s bad luck to be wiped out by a flooding river, but if we had constructed dams and dikes before there was a flood, the damage might have been minimized. Risk can never be eliminated, but it can be contained by those who plan ahead and take action.
Example: A businessman shouldn’t blame fate when a deal falls apart. If he had been more proactive in laying the groundwork for other deals, the one failure wouldn’t matter as much.
The only reliable allies are those who benefit from our success. Machiavelli warned princes against leading mercenary troops into battle. Mercenaries might not give their full effort or might turn on their employers. Instead, we should team up only with those who truly benefit from our victory or our opponent’s defeat. People are fickle about all things except one — they will always look out for their own interests. As long as our success is in their interests, they will be on our side.
Before we place our trust in anyone, we must first ask, Are the interests of this person truly in line with our own? If not, is there a way to make it so? Machiavelli would be in favor of profit-sharing programs that give employees a stake in their employer’s success.
Our activities during free time often shape our success. Machiavelli warned leaders that they must concentrate on the study of war even in peacetime. He recommended as appropriate hobbies hunting and reading books about great military leaders.
Free time and work time really are all part of the limited amount of time we have at our disposal to succeed at our goals. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves on our days off, but it does mean that we should search for productive uses for these hours.
Examples: Dinner at a nice restaurant could be turned into a networking opportunity if a potential business contact were invited along. A well-written business biography could replace the novel on your nightstand.
Forgiving those who do us wrong is a mistake. When we forgive those who try to harm us, we undercut the efforts of those who are loyal. It is better to punish those who deserve to be punished and show love to those who truly deserve our love.
Passion is the best motivator. Machiavelli believed that you can’t lead people into battle by explaining the logic of a situation — you must do so by enflaming their passions. Even in our everyday lives, it pays to seek out people who believe passionately in what they do. Speak with tradespeople and professionals about their businesses before hiring them. Try to gauge their passion for their work.
Example: The gardener who is passionate about plants will do a better job with your flowers than someone who is doing it just to pay the bills. The accountant who is passionate about tax law will do a better job than someone who considers his/her vocation dull.
Trust enemies above friends for frankness. When Machiavelli advocated keeping friends close but enemies closer, he meant that we can trust our enemies to criticize us when we deserve to be criticized.
Friends are often less honest with us. Some become jealous of our success and secretly root against us. Others agree with everything we say in a misguided attempt to protect our feelings, even when they know we’re wrong. When we surround ourselves with flatterers, we’re on the road to failure.
The hard route to the top is often the best. Some people are born into money and power, while others have to earn them. Don’t waste time being jealous of those to whom fortune has given a head start — such people often lose in the end. Machiavelli saw that leaders who inherit their success are more likely to fail than self-made people who are forced to learn important life lessons during their own climbs.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Zen My Sweet
I understand your request to know about my excursion to Dafur. I actually am flattered that you would feel the way you do. The feeling is mutual.
I will leave tomorrow. I will be there for three to six months. Much will depend on the reception I receive when I get there.
I debated putting it off until we at least talked in person. But I felt that the memories of my past experience in Africa were such that any good excuse not to return would have its effect upon me.
Staying here and pursuing you would be the best reason to stay out of harm’s way anyone could imagine. So, I could not grant myself that privilege. I am taking a military version of the Iphone. It is capable of accessing any satellite. I should be able to get off an email or two and keep ahead of the trackers.
I feel that I have really found something worth pursing. But Nia is ever present on my mind. If I can leave a memory of her with her people, I will feel that I have made a start towards honoring what she gave to me.
I believe in life again because of her. I will be able to enjoy it now because of you.
I need to be in her land when I talk with her.
Nia
Nine years old and a hundred and nine.
Brave beyond imagination of the greatest tragic heros of legend.
If I could have traded her death for mine.
Today my heart would not be so burdened.
Why Nia were you so insanely brave?
In three weeks you taught me more than 40 years of life.
Every injury to your person you forgave
A heart so big but never any room for strife.
Sweet child will I be faithful to your memory?
I who came to love you so, for what seems like one short night
For one brief space of darkness, through which we fought fiercely
But I could not endure until the dawning light
Nia you were no longer near me on the floor
Lie still ! Lie still ! Who is there left to hear or heed your cry?
You shall not see the sun rise any more
I will return to avenge you even if fate will have me die.
Take heart Nia, your murderers I will without mercy pursue
Before you, I hated, and I killed, but love is sweet
And you were more than sweet to me, how could I not love you
You, who decked my eyes with dust from off your feet.
Nia you were so young and fragile
I held your body as gently as one holds a flower
To no avail, God knows, what use to be so tender still
To one whose life was done within an hour
I can not sleep, I fear your soul wanders in a foreign land all alone
Should I die, I shall sleep. There on the floor beside you
I will come and lead your soul back towards home
In the meantime, without mercy your murderers I will pursue.
This I Anonz swear to you.
November 8th, 2008 at 8:33 am
I missed the opportunity to become to work in San Francisco. I was invited to intern for a company. I had not put my love of a man ahead of my career.
We broke up less than a year later. I have regretted that for six years now. Tomorrow I will begin planning to seek employment in the city that every time I visit, my heart aches when I have to leave.
Michelle, you have inspired me to get off my ass and do something with my desires.
Sherry.
November 8th, 2008 at 8:42 am
I hope I can get in this morning, I tried all night after I read Anonz’s cry for help.
Anonz you should not go. I believe that you have a deaf wish. Nia will never return. And you can’t help her by dying.
Perhaps it would be better if you sought the help of a psychiatrist. I am not saying that you are crazy. I just feel that you have unresolved issues about what occurred when Nia died.
I get the feeling that you believe that somehow you were responsible. I have read your many comments to this blog. My colleagues and I find it (this blog in general) to be an interesting set of case studies.
You have experienced an incredible metamorphosis in core values. One that we feel was caused more than from a discovery of moral conscious.
It would be a great loss to all who know you to give your life away so recklessly. Do think this through before you commit yourself to a task that will only be satisfying to you if you give your life to the cause.
Wilma
November 8th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I hope Obama will help us here in Botswana. We are desperate for his help. We thank God for bringing you to the world stage.
Borge
November 8th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Wilma, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for saying what you’ve said above. If I said it, it would sound like a selfish wish from Zen to Anonz. I take it you are in the psychology field? Yes, interesting case studies…and I’d have to include myself in there, how else would you explain a woman so taken with a man she’s never met? Pathetic, desperate, needy?? And yet, I’m am none of that. Thank you again, I can breathe easily again now. – Zen Lill
November 8th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Borge and other non-American’s, I can’t claim to know anything but one thing is clear about Obama, our world fences are about to be mended and all coming from a special place in terms of hope, and using everyone’s ability to step up and assist. He’s one man and not the new messiah, but if we all do our best I’m positive he’ll do his best. He’s got his US and world work cut out for him, but if anyone can do it I believe this man’s heart and soul not to mention his character and intellect will be our best bet. – ZL