O is for Opportunity

Everyone knows the saying about opportunity only knocking once, so why do so many people leave it on their doorstep?

I must have a knack for it but somehow I have picked four blogs from the A to Z list in a row to visit and found that they had signed up and were not participating. The last entry on one blog was from 2013.  This is an opportunity that is being squandered.  I visited as I am sure many others have and instead of gaining followers they are creating a really bad first impression.

I happened across a pitch contest one night and the deadline to enter was at 6 AM the next morning.  I was excited that I had found the contest, yes I would have liked more time but I hadn't missed it altogether.  I worked on a pitch for hours and submitted it.  I found out that I am one of the fifty pitches that will be reviewed by professionals authors and agents.  Yeah!  There is a blog hop which will introduce me to more authors and agents.  Even if I don't win I have already gained the opportunity to meet more writers and agents and if my pitch is good maybe even more opportunities will come out of the contest.  I am much better off than if I had said, "Too bad I didn't see this sooner; maybe next year."

Sadly this is the attitude I see so many people take.  I can't tell you how many times I have approached people with opportunities and they have said things like, "I'm not ready now, that sounds amazing but..., I'll look into this."  I had an offer of a free twenty minute session with the Book Doctors and extended it to my writing group and not one of them took me up on it.  Twenty minutes to discuss anything you want about publishing, your pitch, agents, platform, etc. with two industry professionals and they left that opportunity sitting on the doorstep!

Life is happening now.  Seize the opportunities.  The universe was nice enough to present you with a gift but you are taking it and throwing it, unopened into the garbage.

That's just my two cents, you can of course choose to ignore it; but then you will be no better off than you are now.

T

Timid

I am a do it in a New York minute kind of gal.  I am always trying to move forward and get it done as quickly as possible.

Lately I have noticed that this rush towards a goal attitude may not always be the best path forward.   I have always negatively associated slow with old so have mindlessly rallied against slowing down.

Children are timid while they are learning new things and entering new situations.  They instinctively know this is the safest way to move forward.

Working with my safety department they have taught me the importance of progressing forward timidly and only when we are sure that it is safe.

I recently interviewed someone who gave me the best answer ever about stopping work if it seemed unsafe.  Everyone else (30+ interviewees) quickly said, “I would stop the work immediately.”   My star interviewee stated that he would assess the situation and only stop the work if stopping it would not put someone in immediate danger.  Again, the thoughtful, timid approach was the smartest option.

While this is counter intuitive for me I have learned that the best path forward may be the take the time to observe and thoughtfully choose what is best.

With ages comes wisdom, but only if you seek it.  I am constantly seeking growth.  I can’t help the getting older part.  I am just waiting to be old enough to say whatever I want and get away with it.