Do Goals Create Opportunities, or Do Opportunities Create Goals?
Goals and Opportunities Grow Together Which comes first: the opportunity that gives birth to a goal, or the goal that leads us toward an opportunity? This question stayed with me because life offers evidence for both answers. An unexpected conversation may introduce us to work we had never considered. A difficult experience may reveal an ability we did not know we possessed. A chance invitation may lead to a friendship, project, or direction that changes our future. In these situations, the opportunity comes first. It shows us something we could not have planned because we did not yet know it was possible. At other times, nothing arrives to guide us. We must choose a direction, begin learning, and continue working before any promising door opens. The goal comes first, and opportunity grows around it. Perhaps the mistake is believing that one must always come before the other. Goals and opportunities often form a cycle. An opportunity awakens a goal. The goal changes our attention. New ...