If you are a smart, driven person, it is likely that you have had a number of opportunities to do something that feels big, important, meaningful or all of the above. Maybe you were accepted for entrance to an elite university. Perhaps you were given an opportunity to work under a respected mentor. Maybe you had an amazing job offer in a city far from home. Or as a leader, perhaps you had a chance to change the direction of your business that seemed nearly impossible to pass up, maybe you were offered an opportunity to franchise or grow your business or double your salary with a move in jobs.
These once in a lifetime, almost too good to be true, strikes of good fortune, good luck and yes, even the fruits of hard work can seem impossible to pass on. But should you take every opportunity that comes your way? Our knee jerk response is usually yes, why wouldn’t someone take such a great opportunity? But what really makes an opportunity great? Is it prestige, power, money, accolades, achievement, adventure or is it something else? I would say, it is that something else and that something is different for everyone. Whatever that something is, we should all spend more time figuring it out because while it might not mean the difference between being successful or not, it will likely mean the difference between being happy or not.
Let say for example that a young man or woman is offered admission to that elite university. For one person, this chance might be a dream come true. Yet for another person motivated by different somethings, going to a school that is filled with loyal friends, or a different environment might be the right opportunity, even if on paper the elite school seems somehow better. Or the great job offer far from home. For the person who has dreamed of venturing far from home in search of new opportunities, this is a perfect chance to realize their dream. Yet for the person who has dreamed of planting deep roots in a community surrounded by their family and friends, it likely won’t make them happy. Maybe the job move that promises double the money is just the ticket for one individual but would actually upset the work life balance of another.
The hard part is this, so many of these opportunities look so good on paper and are so lauded and envied by others that it can be really tough to figure out if you really want it or you just think you do. And maybe you are afraid of missing out or the regret of not having gone for it. Here in lies the very hard work of discovering who you are and what you really want—or your somethings.
If you are a smart and driven person, there will be no end to the opportunities you will be offered or given the chance to create for yourself. If you do the work of trying things and learning about what you are motivated by, what really sparks passion in you, what makes hard work feel somehow easier than it should feel, what makes hours fly by and puts a smile on your face then you will be better poised to figure out which opportunities that while great, will lead you in a direction away from what you really want and which opportunities will act like the perfect wave, gently pushing you closer to the shore. Whatever it is will be much closer by just finding your something!
Leave a Reply