One of the craziest things I have every seen is Monster Jam.  If you’re familiar with a demolition derby, you’ll know what I am talking about.  Monster Jam is a more modern version where there is plenty of demolition and destruction with some added vanity based type of challenges.  It’s kind of like Dancing with the Stars and The Titan Games for monster trucks.

I ended up experiencing a Monster Jam rather unexpectedly.  This seems to be the method for many things in my life, but this one was truly unplanned.  

The coronavirus has caused some amazingly unique situations this year.  One of the most unique I’ve heard about involves some family members of mine.  They recently made their way back to Shanghai, China where their permanent home is.  For the previous eight months, they have been in the United States without a residence.  They split time between four different states while being displaced.  Their first stop was my house.

Prior to the spread of the virus in the western world, life was much different.  Every year, the school that my wife teaches at has an event for young boys called “Knight for a Day”.  It’s an amazing event that I would encourage any parent to have their elementary aged boy experience.  The event is in February and was shortly after my family from China arrived this year.  

On the day of “Knight for a Day”, I had the pleasure of watching my youngest niece, who was eight years old.  I knew it was my chance to increase my clout as “Uncle Bobby.”  One of my favorite places to dine, Sweet Tomatoes (an all-you-can-eat healthy salad buffet) was still open for business at this point.  They have since permanently close all their locations.  It was a very sad day for me when they announced the decision.  

On February 22nd 2020, Sweet Tomatoes had a customer appreciation day.  This was the same day as “Knight for a Day”.  What were the chances?  It was meant to be.  I could take my niece to a fun event with balloons, mascots, face painting, and plenty of giveaways.  It’s also a place where she could eat plenty of healthy vegetables and I could just eat plenty.  She had so much fun, I ate so much food.  There were so many people there pre-social-distancing.  

On our way out of the restaurant, we had a chance to participate in some activities and were allowed to choose a special gift.  I was stuffed and thought my niece might be ready to leave.  But, being the good uncle I am, I asked her what she wanted to do.  She said, “Well, we’re here, let’s try!”.  Now that was the spirit and the words I needed to hear to make me want to stick around.  Because we stayed, we were able to choose a gift.  There were movies, stickers, tattoos, shirts, music, gift cards, and tickets.  Unexpectedly, my niece chose the Monster Jam tickets.  I was surprised.  She didn’t even ask me any questions about it.  It was a unique opportunity.

Monster Jam was that same day and the next.  After some deliberation that evening, it was decided that my brother-in-law, nephew, niece(the one who chose the tickets), and I would go down to Marlins Park in Miami to see the show.  

Monster Trucks are ridiculously loud.  Especially inside of a stadium.  If you ever go, I suggest taking ear plugs.  Our seats were in the upper deck and I still felt like we were standing next to the destruction going on on field level.  We all had a great time experiencing something we had never seen before.  The technology and voting system was easy to use and we were able to participate in the event even though we weren’t exactly sure what was going on.  

The entire Monster Jam experience reminded me of a lot of unique opportunities that I have had in my life.  Many of them have come rather unexpectedly.  And sometimes, I’ve had to force myself to take action in order to harness the opportunity.  

The controlled aggression of Monster Jam also reminds me of the need to act aggressively when certain opportunities arise.

When opportunity knocks, kick down the door.  I’ve heard many iterations of this quote, but what never changes, is the first part, when opportunity knocks…

When does opportunity knock?  How do you know it has?  Can you prepare for it?  These are all great questions.

When does opportunity knock?

The answer to this question is impossible to generalize.  Every situation is different.  Certain ones are predictable, others are not.  However, one thing that remains is the possibility of opportunities arising.  And while you may not be able to predict all the opportunities, you can prepare yourself to act when they come. 

The combination of preparation and patience is very powerful.  If you prepare yourself for what you want and patiently wait for it to come, you're much more likely to be successful.  Preparation without patience leads to settling for something less than your goal.  Patience without preparation leads to failure to execute.   Opportunities are not frequent, otherwise they would not be so coveted.  Opportunities are not luck, otherwise merit would be devalued.   

How do you know opportunity has knocked?

Prepare for your chance.  The more ready your are, the more easily identifiable your opportunity will be.  Because opportunities are not frequent, you must be able to recognize them.  Because they are not luck, those who are skilled will prevail.  If there is someone you want to meet, research them, the people they know, and the things they do.  If it’s a position you covet, learn everything you can about it.  If it’s an item you, know its value, its origin, who has it, and the best way to acquire it.

Give yourself every chance possible to recognize your opportunity.

Can you prepare for an opportunity (if you don’t know if and when it will come)?

For my sports (football) analogy of the week, I call on former Green Bay Packers head coach, Vince Lombardi.  Vince is the namesake of the National Football League’s championship trophy.  He’s a hall-of-famer and one of, if not the most famous football coach of all time.  He once said:

Practice doesn’t make perfect.  Only perfect practice makes perfect.

Was Vince a leader and type “A” personality?  Just maybe.  The man demanded perfection in preparation.  Admittedly, seeking perfection is an uphill battle and not possible in many situations.  But, in practice, it often is.  And practice, being a simulation, means perfection can presented even if it is unlikely in reality.  This can be applied to a football practice and your preparation for an opportunity.  You’re not going to capitalize on every chance (perfection) but you will on some.  

Prepare like the best to become the best.

There are 4 Mental Preparedness Secrets Used by Navy Seals according to Jacob Hunter.  What I find most interesting is that even in the most serious of life or death situations, Navy Seals concentrate on simply breathing.  It’s something that can be controlled in an otherwise uncontrollable scenario.  

If you are hoping to get lucky and believe that’s the only way to get your big break, maybe you should start simply.  Concentrate on the little things that you can control.  

Actors and actresses practice their craft for thousands of hours prior to landing a big role.  Their big breakout performance is what is highlighted because that is how people recognize them.  But, it was the work beforehand that prepared them to take advantage of the role they landed with a great audition. 

Musicians practice writing and playing music for thousands of hours.  They perform free concerts, they open for other artists, they record numerous tracks, all leading up to the “breakout” performance.  

Athletes train for six months worth of offseason to capitalize on a handful of chances during a season.  How many game winning shots can a basketball player hit in one season?  Eighty-two in a normal regular season (low 70s with the COVID-19 break this year).  How many shots do they take to prepare?  Thousands, literally.

When you are prepared for your opportunity you can kick down the door upon its knocking.  

Imagine yourself in a dark unfamiliar hallway with ten doors.  You want to leave, but you’re not sure what’s behind each door.  All you know is that only one door is the way out and the other nine have a velociraptor (or whatever vicious animal scares you the most, I’m partial to dinosaurs) waiting to pounce on you.  It would be great if you knew which door would lead you to safety.  You would confidently open, possibly kick down the door and leave as quickly as possible.  

Sometimes I imagine myself in that dark hallway and I feel like I’ll never get out.  I have to remind myself that it’s not as simple as possible or impossible.  There is an exit sign on the door out.  But, the hallway will not change from pitch dark to perfectly lit out based on luck.  In order to feel better about the situation, and my chances of finding an opportunity (seeing the exit sign), I have to shed some light on the dark hallway.  I need to learn more about the situation.  When the hallway brightens up, it’s a lot easier to recognize the right door.

Five steps to finding opportunities:

1. Acknowledge that they exist.

2. Acknowledge that their exact timing cannot be predicted.

3. Prepare for the moment when they arrive.

4. Act aggressively upon recognition.  

5. Use what you’ve prepared to take advantage.  

My niece knew Customer Appreciation Day at Sweet Tomatoes was special.  She had never experienced anything like it.  When we were getting ready to leave, she knew that it would be over forever.  She acted quickly, and said that we should stay.  We did and ultimately got tickets to something we’d never seen before.

At Monster Jam, I learned that even something as seemingly mindless as crushing junk cars with huge overpowered trucks requires some instant reactions.  These reactions are possible because of extensive, perfect preparation.

Prepare yourself.  Trust your preparation.  

And kick down the door when opportunity knocks.