Seven lessons from golf: (6) Grab the opportunity when it comes.

Today in the afternoon the weather suddenly turned sunny and because I was prepared that this might happen, I decided quickly to grab this opportunity and go to the golf course. It turned out to be a wonderful day at the putting green and driving range, even though it was cloudy in the morning. There are two lessons which I have learned today.

Be prepared

The scout motto which hasn't change since 1907 is "Be prepared.". It may sound very simple and very easy to do. The more I try to be prepared often, the more I realize how difficult it is and moreover, how preparedness makes the difference between a pro and an amateur. Even though I got into the habit of going through my agenda of the next day and making my todo list, it happens almost every day that I find myself being not prepared.

Think about various situation that might happen and be prepared. In golf it might include:

Having your equipment ready for the next game

Having a sharpen pencil

Having a marker

Having a small snack and something to drink

Having all you golf clothes ready

Cleaning your shoes regularly

It's interesting to watch people in a business meeting.

Amateurs:

Come late.

They don't have clean shoes.

They are not shaved.

They haven't prepared their questions and goals for the meeting.

They haven't read the agenda.

They haven't prepared what they are going to say.

Pros:

Come on time, after breakfast and good sleep.

They have very clean shoes and clothes.

They are shaved.

They have prepared questions, goals and read the agenda.

They have rehearsed the meeting a couple of times in their head.

The simple advice: be prepared for usual situations that happen regularly, it's really not that difficult if you make it a habit.

Grab the opportunity when it comes.

Opportunities very often come and go in a very short time. If you don't grab them, they will go to knock someone else's door. An opportunity is usually not shiny, but you can feel a good opportunity in your guts. However:

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.-Thomas A. Edison

It's very easy to think that there are people, who are successful because of a great opportunity. But most of great people are great, because they took the first small opportunity, learned  a ton of things and moved to a bigger opportunity towards their goals.

Grab the opportunity when it comes, no matter how small. A bigger one might come soon after taking a small one, it's just hidden in the gaze so that you don't see it. But you can always feel it. Take the small, they will grow over time.