**REPOSTED FROM DBAGooner.com blog dated February 18, 2015**

A few weeks ago I watched a TEDx talk by Jay Demerit on this topic and it got me thinking, am I ready for an opportunity?

A few days after, I stumbled on Brent Ozar‘s “life quest” post and without relating it to Jay’s talk it struck me as something I needed to do.  To plan what success is to me.  It’s not about wealth or things, for me it’s about being in a position to be happy.  Less bills, less debt, better credit, better fitness, all of which will help to enjoy life.

So I refurbed my blog and began to write here as part of my life quest.

A week or two after rekindling my blog, Paul Randall provided an opportunity to be mentored by him.  His only requirement was, to apply, you had to write a blog post.  What an amazing turn of events as I had just began to look at life as planning for a sunny day, or the day when an opportunity arises.

  • I planned out what I wanted to accomplish in my life, personally and professionally.
  • I redesigned and upgraded my blog.
  • I began to blog, and got comfortable with putting thoughts out onto the interweb for my three readers to follow.

Without knowing it, I had been preparing for my Sunny Day.  What if I hadn’t planned for my future goals?  What would I have to say to Paul?

What if I hadn’t reignited my blog?  Would I have had the time to set one up before the deadline?

What if I didn’t blog, and didn’t know what to write?

What if my writing was terrible?

Luckily I did prepare.  Everything lined up to allow me to succeed in jumping at this opportunity.  So I applied to Paul’s mentoring opportunity.  I counted all of the entries.  53…  I had a 1:53 chance at earning / winning one of 3 spots.  I read a few of them, they were very good, and I wasn’t very confident that I would be selected.  But this process laid out the plan, and even if I wasn’t selected I now knew what I was looking for.  I could approach more experienced DBAs at my local PASS User Group.  I was setting myself up for success.  And I could claim Paul read my blog.

The results are in!

Paul chose everyone.  All 53 entrants would be mentored for the entire year!  It was a bit like Oprah.  “You get a school, and YOU get a school!”  I’m very happy to be a part of this 2015 class of mentees.

Now I know that everything won’t always line up perfectly to allow me to pounce on every opportunity, but I’ll have more successes if I set myself up for success than I will if I don’t!

Have you planned for your sunny day?  Will you be ready to pounce when opportunity knocks?