You Only Get a Few Great Opportunities Each Day

When I surf each day, I know that I may only get a few opportunities to get a great wave. I try to go when that best window of the day opens up. It is frequently in transition between low and high tide and in the morning when there is no wind.

I prepare each day by adding yoga, upper body work, and aerobics to my routine. I read how the experts do maneuvers and I watch video. I picture which new maneuver I want to accomplish on the right waves that I catch that day.

Not only do I have to hit the right window when the best waves are breaking, I have to get my place in the line up with the other eager surfers and then get the right timing when my wave appears.

Our work, careers, and passions can have the same pattern. There are a few windows when the timing is right to excel. Do we hunt for those windows and are we prepared when they open?

Big wave surfers say it takes years to prepare for the biggest waves. One has to have the experience, the courage, the stamina, and the strength to catch the wave but more importantly to survive a wipe out.

When pursuing our work or our passion, we might picture that each month there may be a few great opportunities to advance. What would that window look like? What kind of preparation would it take to make that advance? What could I do each day to be in position to make that advance?

Wishing and hoping does not make it happen. Peak performance occurs when we are in the flow or in the zone. These two states require that we have practiced the mechanics until they are automatic. They require that we actually enjoy the activity that we pursue. They require that once we begin, we can bar distractions.  Living in the flow creates the brain chemicals that are defined by neurologists as happiness.

I am reading an autobiography on Tony Blair, previous Prime Minister of Great Britain. He prepared for years for an opportunity to be in leadership. He did not know if he really wanted the responsibility although he pursued the philosophy he felt the long suffering Labor party needed to adopt to beat the Tories.

When he saw the opening, he knew it was his opportunity to seize his moment. Everyone can seize their moment if they have also put in the preparation and lived with the expectation that someday they would reach their full potential.

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See Resources for reading books on preparing for your minutes in the sun.