The Power of Opportunity

March is a special month for college basketball fans. Before the actual tournament tips off, there’s a full week of conference tournaments — and thanks to my office television, I had games on in the background most of the day.

As I watched, something caught my attention. The teams playing hardest in the early rounds were the ones with losing records — teams that won’t make the field of 68, programs whose coaches may not have jobs by next week. And yet there they were, competing with everything they had.

That’s when it hit me: at least they have the opportunity to do what they love.

That thought pulled me back to my own days playing music in high school and college. Looking back, I spent so much mental energy competing — chasing a spot in the band, worrying about chair placement, measuring myself against everyone around me — that I never fully connected with the joy of actually getting to perform. The opportunity was right in front of me, and I was too distracted by the competition to feel it.

That’s the quiet cost of competition that nobody talks about. It doesn’t just make you anxious — it disconnects you from the gift of the moment.

Which brings me to right now. I have the opportunity to lead a school. I have the opportunity to put my voice, my ideas, and my content into the world for anyone to find. And yet my inner critic still whispers the same old script: worry about the views, figure out the marketing, chase the numbers.

But when I slow down and tell that voice to be quiet, what I’m left with is gratitude. Gratitude for the opportunity itself — not the outcomes, not the metrics, just the chance to show up and do the work I love.

That’s enough. That has always been enough.

Think about a time when the pressure to compete — for recognition, results, or relevance — pulled you away from actually enjoying what you were doing. What would it have looked like to stay connected to the opportunity instead?