I remember reading an old interview with Michael Caine. He discussed his early career and how success came. The interviewer said, he was lucky to get the part in Zulu, to get such a big break at the start of his career, that his success had come from nowhere. This comment, made Michaels blood boil, and he reacted strongly. Saying that it wasn’t luck, and he hadn’t come from nowhere. He had been grafting, working his “ar*e” off doing small parts in unheralded productions for ten years. Learning the acting trade and perfecting his craft.

Michael was ready when the opportunity came knocking. Can you say the same thing?

If you listen to people who have achieved great things in their life, you often hear similar stories. They toil away, developing their skills while the world takes little notice. It’s easy to ask why they are doing it when they don’t have the opportunity. Nobody was knocking on their door to give them a chance. But that is to miss the real point. Imagine how much worse it would be for them to have an opportunity, their big break comes along, and they weren’t ready. They didn’t have the skills or the know-how to take advantage of it.

The lesson here is to get yourself ready for your big break. Every day you must work towards your goals. Learn and develop your skills. Practice, practice and practice some more. There is no substitute for the old-fashioned values of grit, determination and hard work. Nobody is going to hand it to you, gift wrapped on a plate. You earn it. You will find your success on the dark side of failure.

I hope you will spend time, making sure you are “prepared for the opportunity”. Remember we climb the mountain, not in giant leaps but one small step at a time.