It's not about opportunities. It's converting that counts.LookIf you hadOne shotOr one opportunityTo seize everything you ever wantedIn one momentWould you capture itOr just let it slip?-- Eminem, Lose YourselfHow many times have you heard someone (or even you yourself) say: "If only I had this opportunity or that opportunity, things would be better"? I heard a lot of talk this week about opportunities. People LOVE themselves some talk about opportunities. Opportunities signify hope. They signify options. They represent an idea that maybe something good or interesting or lucrative can happen.We can focus so much on all of the wonderful possibilities of the opportunity that we forget one critical thing: opportunities are imaginary.Opportunities do not exist -- they are a concept of a possibly outcome. They mean nothing if they are not able to be converted into something real.Yes, of course, creating a pipeline of opportunities is important. They are an indication of movement and activity. The more opportunities you create (if done right) the more you should theoretically be able to increase the probability of converting to a desired result. They also can go a long way in boosting your confidence and making you feel good.But sometimes all you need (or get) is one opportunity. And creating one isn't even half the journey to the final result.The real work happens in the conversion. What you do with an opportunity is really all that matters. Will you capture it, or just let it slip?So, given that, maybe instead of devoting the majority of our time and energy on creating opportunities we should spend a little more envisioning what we are going to do to maximize an opportunity when it presents itself.What are the key components to increasing the likelihood of converting opportunities into results? Here are few I think you need:Preparation - read, learn, plan, map, consider and uncover all of the obstacles that can hinder your opportunity from becoming real. Envision the result happening, control what you can control. And expect to course correct if/when needed. Confidence - when the mic turns on, if you are what you say you are, be humble, but also be confident. You can't score if you don't take the shot, and if you have truly prepared, convince yourself that the opportunity, as you have envisioned it, will become reality. The will to make it happen plays a much larger part than people expect.Execution - okay, so you've prepared and are confident, now comes the "easy" part -- just doing whatever it takes to get it done. Be precise, be relentless, be focused, be single minded.Luck - usually converting involves stars aligning in some way. Now, there is a school of thought that you make your own luck, but there are always factors outside of your control that can and need to fall your way to ensure conversion. It's really easy to fall into a trap of dreaming about what can happen with an opportunity. In my experience, it's those that spend more time thinking about how to convert them that actually (and consistently) make them real.Enjoy the weekend everyone. Along the lines of converting the opportunities that present themselves, I'm going to give yet another plug here for the Netflix doc series Last Chance U: Basketball . We finished it this week and it was some of the most compelling storytelling I have seen in a while. Whether you like basketball or not, you will get hooked all the way through -- check it out.XOXODave