Friday 2 July 2010

Opportunity Comes in Many Forms... Don't Miss It!

So here we are at 5pm on Friday and work is all but done (in truth I think most people have been done since lunchtime - a bit of sunshine and scrrrrammm....!). It's been a funny week. In a strange sense not ha ha :). Having had an important piece of business delayed and with some other initiatives start to take shape, another extremely interesting opportunity presented itself this week. A bit of a blast from the past from my time in the IT sector, a former colleague came to me with a proposal to work together on a project completely outside of my current scope. There's a lot to be done before making a decision but it got me thinking.....

We talk a lot about the importance of goals and how staying focused on those goal keeps us on track. Most of us have, or maybe should have(?!) a plan of action around what we're doing and what it is we're trying to achieve in the short, medium and long term.

It IS important to keep your eyes on the prize, no doubt about it. But.... Let's make sure we enjoy the journey as well as the accomplishments. What's the point of working flat-out to climb the mountain, only to have nobody to share the view with at the summit? It would be a travesty to achieve all that we thought we wanted, only to find that we've allowed the things that matter to wither on the vine along the way? The danger of being too-long term focused is that despite best intentions, today can  pass us by. That extra 5 minutes with the kids, the missed opportunity to get some fresh air, to call your friends, to do something other than work. As we've said before, what's done is done. You can't get it back.

The 2nd thing that came to mind is that opportunity presents itself in many forms. And that form probably won't be somebody stood there with a dopey grin and a sign round their neck with the word 'Opportunity' written large...

There's often a better, smarter way to achieve our aims but these options can be easily missed if we're operating at 100mph at the expense of everything else. How often have we said 'if only I'd known about that it would have saved all that wasted time'? What are the odds that the better way was trying to flag us down as we blasted by but we were blind to it? I'm thinking pretty high.

This week, it would have been easy to say 'you know, I'm really busy and I don't have time to meet you. This isn't my thing. Maybe another time....'. As it was, I took the time and discovered a potentially lucrative business opportunity to work with someone I know, respect and trust.

Sound judgement, or pure luck, I'm glad I saw it and acted on it, even though it's a clear deviation from my own plan. Sometimes the road zig-zags a little for a good reason....

It should also be said that you have to determine whether the things that appear to be opportunities are merely distractions in disguise and that's where our judgement comes in. Take time to evaluate. Our gut reactions aren't always 100% accurate but they often serve as a very effective early warning system. The joys of being responsible for our own destinies....!

So let's all try to look up once in a while, take in the view and enjoy the ride.

Thanks as ever for stopping by.

PS - And to my US friends, I hope you have a great 4th July celebration!

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great reminder, Andrew, about the need to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the journey.

    I'm reminded of the story of a man who took an angry young boy on a hike up a mountainside. The young boy wanted to know where they were going, and all the man would say was, "You'll know when we get there."

    All along the way, the young boy was pointing out all the beautiful flowers, inspecting little bugs along the trail, taking in the incredible scenery out beyond the trail, and didn't bother to ask again when he and the man would get to their destination. Finally, the man stopped, sat down on a rock and said, "Well, we're here." The boy looked around and saw nothing remarkable. In fact, the spot wasn't as nice as some they had passed on the way up. All of a sudden his anger started coming back, and he said, "I thought we were headed some place special. There's nothing special about this spot! What's with that?!"

    The man reminded him of all the great stuff that he had seen along the way and how much he was enjoying the journey up the side of the mountain, and that during the entire time he had forgotten about his troubles back home and all the things that caused his anger. It's the journey that counts, not the destination. Like you said, enjoy the ride!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Andrew, Great post! I too came to a fork in the road a while back, and ventured into an opportunity that presented itself and I'm glad I did! Sometimes we just have to leave our comfort zone and try something different. I think alot of people miss out on good opportunities for fear of leaving their comfort zone. What a shame. Thanks for the great post! Joseph McDevitt

    ReplyDelete
  4. Business coaching helps owners of small and medium sized businesses with their sales, marketing, management, team building and so much more.
    -Business Coach

    ReplyDelete