Create Your Own Opportunites
The idea of creating your own opportunities is not a new one. For ages, people have been “making lemonade out of lemons,” creating their own paths when there seemed to be none.
I once read a book where the author recalled the ups and downs he experienced on his road to success. During one particular point in his life, he found himself out of work, and employment prospects were nonexistent. In the book, he wrote that since he could not find a job he went out and created one. He created for himself the thing he needed the most at that particular time in his life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Sometimes the path that is before us may not be the right one to take. Sometimes there is no path and we have to figure out how to create our own.
As a writer with huge dreams that I am trying to birth into the world, the opportunities to become a self-published writer are numerous due to the evolving technological advances and social media. Writers no longer have to wait for an agent or a publishing company to say yes to our work. We can give ourselves permission to write the stories, poems, and essays we want to share and then put them out into the world. Waiting for a publishing house to offer us what we can do for ourselves is no longer the only option available. We can become published authors by making the choice to do so.
But creating your own opportunities is not just for those of us who have writing dreams; it's for anyone who has a God-inspired dream in their heart. For example, if your dream is to be a teacher, but you do not want to go back to school to get the required degrees and certifications as mandated by school districts in order to teach, there are other avenues to explore. Whether it is your desire to teach kids or adults, you can do so by creating your own programs.
A woman from my local area who loved computers and spending time with children wanted to find a way to teach without returning to school. She was not interested in teaching in a traditional school setting instead, she began to advertise computer classes for children in her neighborhood and slowly built up a clientele. Now years later, she rents office space and has created an afterschool program and summer camp combining her love of computers, teaching, and children. She didn’t wait for an opportunity to present itself for her to teach, she created her own.
Another woman I meet at a local festive shared with me the story behind the hair and skin products she was selling from her booth. She began creating the products ten years ago when her daughter was suffering from skin rashes that the doctor was not able to explain. The medications prescribed along with over-the-counter products did not heal her daughter's skin problems. The woman told me she needed to find a solution and so she began researching and creating products to use on her daughter and they worked. Her daughter no longer suffers from skin issues and now works alongside her mother helping to build the family business.
Before I began wbt.com, I started out small by submitting essays for publication in a local woman’s magazine and a writing contest. It took a while for me to get up the nerve to submit my work because at the time I was not sharing my work with other people. But during this particular period in my life, I was writing a great deal and decided that I needed to start pitching my work which was how I thought you became a published writer. I submitted the two essays roughly around the same time and then proceeded to wait several weeks before I received responses. Both responses came back as a "no". The rejection was difficult for me. I don’t know if I honestly went in thinking they were going to publish my essays, but I don’t think I really thought what a rejection letter would feel like either.
This initial rejection stopped me from submitting to other publications. There are many writers who would have continued submitting their work, but at the time I was really green to the field and my writing confidence was low.
Many years passed before I would send my work out again, but when I did it was under the umbrella of wordsbytara.com. I decided to create my own opportunity to share my writings with others instead of waiting for someone else to give me permission. I had some fears around how my work would be received but as I hit publish on the pieces I wrote each week, the fear diminished.
I believe my confidence in my ability to write weekly essays and the positive responses is what helped me to try submissions again. Since those initial rejections, I’ve been a columnist for a site dedicated to working at homes moms, a frequent contributor to a journal writing site, and a writer for a local small business newspaper. All of these opportunities came after I created the opportunity for myself by starting wordsbytara.com.
What I know now is that I do not have to wait for someone to say yes to my work. I can create the space for my own opportunities and so can you.
But how?
Initially, the most important step to take is to decide that your dream and creating the opportunity for it to exist in the world is what you are willing to commit to doing. Here I wrote a piece about the first steps in this process.
Once you have made the commitment to yourself and your dream, start taking small, consistent actions to create opportunities for your dream to grow.
One thing to always remember is that we have everything we need inside of us to birth our dreams into the world. This knowledge along with faith and the willingness to show up for our dreams and ourselves every day allows for our dream to flourish; creating and attracting new opportunities.
I once read a book where the author recalled the ups and downs he experienced on his road to success. During one particular point in his life, he found himself out of work, and employment prospects were nonexistent. In the book, he wrote that since he could not find a job he went out and created one. He created for himself the thing he needed the most at that particular time in his life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Sometimes the path that is before us may not be the right one to take. Sometimes there is no path and we have to figure out how to create our own.
As a writer with huge dreams that I am trying to birth into the world, the opportunities to become a self-published writer are numerous due to the evolving technological advances and social media. Writers no longer have to wait for an agent or a publishing company to say yes to our work. We can give ourselves permission to write the stories, poems, and essays we want to share and then put them out into the world. Waiting for a publishing house to offer us what we can do for ourselves is no longer the only option available. We can become published authors by making the choice to do so.
But creating your own opportunities is not just for those of us who have writing dreams; it's for anyone who has a God-inspired dream in their heart. For example, if your dream is to be a teacher, but you do not want to go back to school to get the required degrees and certifications as mandated by school districts in order to teach, there are other avenues to explore. Whether it is your desire to teach kids or adults, you can do so by creating your own programs.
A woman from my local area who loved computers and spending time with children wanted to find a way to teach without returning to school. She was not interested in teaching in a traditional school setting instead, she began to advertise computer classes for children in her neighborhood and slowly built up a clientele. Now years later, she rents office space and has created an afterschool program and summer camp combining her love of computers, teaching, and children. She didn’t wait for an opportunity to present itself for her to teach, she created her own.
Another woman I meet at a local festive shared with me the story behind the hair and skin products she was selling from her booth. She began creating the products ten years ago when her daughter was suffering from skin rashes that the doctor was not able to explain. The medications prescribed along with over-the-counter products did not heal her daughter's skin problems. The woman told me she needed to find a solution and so she began researching and creating products to use on her daughter and they worked. Her daughter no longer suffers from skin issues and now works alongside her mother helping to build the family business.
Before I began wbt.com, I started out small by submitting essays for publication in a local woman’s magazine and a writing contest. It took a while for me to get up the nerve to submit my work because at the time I was not sharing my work with other people. But during this particular period in my life, I was writing a great deal and decided that I needed to start pitching my work which was how I thought you became a published writer. I submitted the two essays roughly around the same time and then proceeded to wait several weeks before I received responses. Both responses came back as a "no". The rejection was difficult for me. I don’t know if I honestly went in thinking they were going to publish my essays, but I don’t think I really thought what a rejection letter would feel like either.
This initial rejection stopped me from submitting to other publications. There are many writers who would have continued submitting their work, but at the time I was really green to the field and my writing confidence was low.
Many years passed before I would send my work out again, but when I did it was under the umbrella of wordsbytara.com. I decided to create my own opportunity to share my writings with others instead of waiting for someone else to give me permission. I had some fears around how my work would be received but as I hit publish on the pieces I wrote each week, the fear diminished.
I believe my confidence in my ability to write weekly essays and the positive responses is what helped me to try submissions again. Since those initial rejections, I’ve been a columnist for a site dedicated to working at homes moms, a frequent contributor to a journal writing site, and a writer for a local small business newspaper. All of these opportunities came after I created the opportunity for myself by starting wordsbytara.com.
What I know now is that I do not have to wait for someone to say yes to my work. I can create the space for my own opportunities and so can you.
But how?
Initially, the most important step to take is to decide that your dream and creating the opportunity for it to exist in the world is what you are willing to commit to doing. Here I wrote a piece about the first steps in this process.
Once you have made the commitment to yourself and your dream, start taking small, consistent actions to create opportunities for your dream to grow.
One thing to always remember is that we have everything we need inside of us to birth our dreams into the world. This knowledge along with faith and the willingness to show up for our dreams and ourselves every day allows for our dream to flourish; creating and attracting new opportunities.
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What new opportunities are you willing to create for yourself? Send me an email, I would love to hear from you.
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Sign up for the wordsbytara.com Weekly. Ideas, information, and inspiration are sent to your inbox weekly.
Did you purchase your copy of Connecting Deeper to Your God-inspired Dreams E-Study? Get yours today here.