They say that opportunity knocks but in reality it can hurl itself at you or, sometimes, slink in the back door. It can be really difficult to be ready for opportunity when you don't know where it will come from. Some things that you can do:
Keep your eyes open - and by that I mean really be alert. If you look for opportunities you will see them.
Update yourself - Keep your skills, knowledge and yourself up to date. If you are lagging a year or two behind you may not be able to use the opportunity when it arrives.
Change your habits or your processes. Sometimes this might even create an opportunity!
Keep your resume and personal documentation up to date and ready to present in an instant.
Maintain your health. You can't reach very high if you are bedridden.
Exercise your thinking. You may need to be creative to see how to use the opportunity.
Practice positivity - don't let the possible pitfalls blind you to the bonuses.
Many of us are just too scared to try new things in case we fail. Others just jump blindly into the deep end. Personally, I would rather take the risk and try out the opportunity than miss out altogether.
The opportunity presented to myself as well - we bought a house! Very nice location and a bargain! Pity we have to pay over $20k in stamp duty to the government (source: http://stampduty.calculatorsaustralia.com.au/). But overall very happy with the property we bought :))
