Choosing Your Own Opportunities in 2026

January is loud.

Everyone seems to have a plan, a word for the year, a resolution list, and a very clear opinion about what success is supposed to look like next. It is easy to get swept into that noise and mistake movement for intention.

This year, I want to offer a quieter and more powerful way forward.
Instead of chasing every opportunity that shows up, what if you learned how to choose your own opportunities on purpose?

That decision alone can quietly change the trajectory of your year.

Listen to the podcast here:

Why Choosing Your Own Opportunities Matters

RELATED: The Power of Choice: Redefining Your Path for 2025

Most high achievers are already doing a lot. You are showing up. You are responsible. You are handling what needs to be handled.

But growth does not happen simply because you stay busy. Growth happens when you are intentional about where you stretch.

Over the years, both in leadership and entrepreneurship, I have noticed a clear pattern. People who feel stuck are rarely incapable. They are usually operating only inside what is required of them.

That is where the Two Branches of Opportunity come in.

The Required Branch of Opportunity

The required branch is made up of the responsibilities already built into your role or business.

It is the meetings, the deadlines, the expectations, the operational work that keeps things moving. This branch matters. It pays the bills. It keeps the machine running.

But if you stay only here, growth eventually plateaus.

The required branch maintains.
It does not expand.

The Chosen Branch of Opportunity

The chosen branch is different.

These are the opportunities you are not required to take, but decide to take anyway. The skill you choose to develop. The room you decide to walk into. The stretch assignment you raise your hand for. The conversation you initiate even though it feels uncomfortable.

This is where confidence is built.
This is where competence deepens.
This is where momentum starts to compound.

Every meaningful shift in my career and business came from the chosen branch, not the required one.

How Chosen Opportunities Create Real Momentum

When you intentionally choose the right opportunities, something powerful happens.

You stop waiting for permission.
You stop outsourcing your growth.
You start trusting yourself more.

Each chosen opportunity builds proof. Proof that you can stretch. Proof that you can adapt. Proof that you are capable of more than your current lane suggests.

That proof changes how you lead, how you decide, and how you show up.

Choosing Opportunities as an Entrepreneur or Business Owner

If you own a business, this distinction becomes even more important.

Growth does not come from doing more of the same tasks inside your daily operations. It comes from the opportunities you choose outside of them.

The conversations you say yes to.
The ideas you test.
The experiments you allow yourself to try.

Your to-do list keeps things running.
Your chosen opportunities expand what is possible.

How to Start Choosing Your Own Opportunities in 2026

You do not need a massive overhaul to start.

Ask yourself:

• What opportunities am I taking only because they are expected of me?
• Where am I avoiding the chosen branch because it feels unfamiliar or uncomfortable?
• What one opportunity could I choose this quarter that would stretch me in the right direction?

Growth does not require more pressure.
It requires better choices.

A Different Way to Move Into the New Year

You do not need to do everything.
You do not need to say yes to every open door.

But you do need to be honest about which opportunities are maintaining your life and which ones are quietly shaping your future.

2026 does not need to be louder.
It needs to be more intentional, and that starts when you decide to choose your own opportunities.