Sometimes opportunity knocks and then another opportunity knocks and then low and behold a third opportunity knocks! It can feel fun, amazing and exciting, but if you’re not careful it can quickly make you overwhelmed, scattered and unable to focus. What you thought would move you forward starts to keep you stuck because you’re not sure what to do first or you’re continually jumping from one thing to the next.
How do I know? Oh, because I’ve been there myself.
When I took a step back, I realized I allowing every opportunity to walk through the door because:
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It was interesting and exciting
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I was afraid I’d miss out on “the thing” that would bring my business to the next level
But over time the excitement fizzled and my business didn’t go anywhere. So I reevaluated and I realized that all that knocking at my door:
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Took me away from my overall goals
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It didn’t pan out anyway
Can you relate? Your goal may be to…
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Save for the big trip to Europe you’ve been dreaming about but then your BFF mentions going to the hot-ticket in town concert and so you dip into your Europe fund to go.
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Start your own business on side so you can leave your 9-5, but then you are offered a big promotion, which means the time spent on your side gig needs to go back into your 9-5, which has become your 8-7.
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Finally complete a 5k race and you’ve been getting up an hour early every morning to train but then you are invited to The Met Gala and you’ll be out all night…. Go to The Met Gala for crying out loud!! (I mean really!)
So the next time opportunity knocks at your door or pings in your inbox:
#1 Sit down and evaluate it against your goals. Could it fit? How will it support your goal OR more importantly take you away from your goal?
#1 Sit down and evaluate it against your goals. Could it fit? How will it support your goal OR more importantly take you away from your goal?
#2. Create a list of criteria that it needs to achieve to make it a go. If it doesn’t make the mark, it goes away… no matter how exciting it seems.
#3. Put it on a wait list. Maybe you’ve run the opportunity through your list of criteria and it got the green light — but you don’t have the right time now. Put it on hold and when the time is right you can turn this opportunity into your next goal to achieve.
At the end of the day your decision to say yes or no will be based on your commitment to your current goals and trusting you are on the right path, even when the path isn’t that clear. Is it easy? No, not really. Is it worth it? Yes, in most cases, yes it is.