In 2015, the kind of Sun that beat me while I worked is one that cannot be equaled.

I don’t pray to experience that kind of struggle again. You see, I was not getting any jobs. I had applied to as many as I could, NYSC did not prepare me for the kind of shock I met.

I mean, my phone was not ringing off the hook. There were no phantom interview calls from all over the country, nothing!

It slowly dawned on me that no, opportunities are not hiding around the corner just waiting for you to pounce on them or for them to pounce on you.

Opportunities are like chameleons, they blend into your day to day; into the background; they disguise to look like problems.

Like hunger, poverty, not having a job, not knowing where to start. Like sickness gives birth to doctors, like gravity gives birth to aeroplanes and pilots, like drowning gives birth to life boats and ships.

Open Your Eyes and See The World of Opportunities

Let me share with you 3 things I have done this year that has both engulfed me with passion and opened international doors for me:

1. Asking: I am attending an international conference in May for absolutely free because I asked. I got an offer to work unofficially with this organization in the process. Open your eyes, it doesn’t have to look possible. It might have a huge entrance fee, it might have a lot of requirements, open your eyes, that’s just a chameleon.

2. Share: Don’t do it alone. Teach others, collaborate with people who inspire you. In this month 3 teams are working with me to run 3 different platforms and programs. I know I am just one person and cannot reach the whole world but we can all together build bigger opportunities. I have spoken in online communities and I just got another invite yesterday. Open your eyes, networks can sometimes camouflage as competition. Collaborate and share.

3. Create: Find something to create. Answer a need. Don’t wait for your dreams to happen. Go and knock down those doors. But don’t go there empty handed. Acquire skills, create something. A politician from my state recently told me about a diaspora initiative that is being initiated. Guess who they want to create something for the government to promote and sponsor?

It’s a slow and steady climb but you better open your eyes. There’s so much going on around you. One of the things I learned from knocking office to office in osogbo is that behind every door is a human being with human needs, it’s not lions or tigers hiding in those offices. The worst they can tell you is to book an appointment. Ask to see the manager, don’t settle for the receptionist. You’ll knock and one day, the right person will open their doors for you.

Have you read Being Broke and Out? It’s my most recent ebook on personal finance for young starters. I would also recommend Discover Storytelling for Authors and Business Owners.