"If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade." That's a quote by Tom Peters, an author of books on business management practices. I think this advice holds true outside of the business world as well.
All throughout life we are presented with opportunities. What we do with those opportunities will ultimately define our lives. Think back on your own life. Where you are today can be traced back to what opportunities you accepted, and more importantly, which ones you have let slip past you. This holds true for who you date, what job you do, and even where you live! We all have decisions we have to make. A split second is all you have for some of them. What way would your life have turned out if you chose differently? Decisions you make... or don't make can have an impact on your entire life. For instance. when I was younger, I sold real estate during my last two years in college. The experience gave me a sales background, which would have made it easy for me to become a stock broker. In fact, oftentimes when I handed in a resume to a financial firm to become an analyst, they asked me if I would be interested in becoming a broker trainee. I always said no, I wanted to be an analyst, and the interview or conversation would usually stop there. Had I said yes, where would I be in life? I can guarantee you that my life would be radically different. I am not saying better or worse, just different. You see, I met my wife while working for Merrill Lynch as an analyst. If I did not become an analyst, I would likely have never married my wife, or had my two wonderful daughters. Sometimes our decisions in one tiny part of our lives can have a major impact on our destiny. My first financial job I took out of college did not pay much. In fact, it paid $16,500 and I had to travel over 55 miles in one direction to get there. I remember I answered a newspaper ad for data entry for Value Line. I knew the Value Line Investment Survey, and I figured that if I worked hard at the data entry, that I could eventually move up to become an analyst there. I was very naive back then, but that is exactly how it worked out for me. Within six months I worked in quality control, and then six months later I was a junior analyst... and my financial career was started! The secret in life is to know what is an opportunity for you instead of just an option. Becoming a broker was an option for me, because of the sales background I had. It was not an opportunity for me, because I did not want to be a broker. Meanwhile, the ad for a data entry clerk was an opportunity for me, because it allowed me to get a foot in the door at a company I wanted to work for, and the work, I suspected, would allow me to meet people who could help me to become what I wanted. The low salary never even came into consideration. How my wife and I started dating was also an opportunity I failed to let slip by. I have told this story a number of times already in this blog, so I won't repeat it again here. But sometimes, your heart knows something is right and will urge you to follow it. It also helped that I felt that I was in a no lose situation, since I thought the other girl with us liked me and I wasn't interested in her. If my wife had said no to my advance, at least the other girl would have known that I was not interested in her, thus stopping an awkward situation later. That said, there are all types of opportunities in life. Being offered to do something you do not want to do is not one of them. It is an option. Right now, I have the option of droning on for another thirty paragraphs about this very same topic... and likely bore you to death. Instead, I will take the opportunity to end this missive here. When the window of opportunity opens, I prefer to rip it open with a crow bar! Not pretend I didn't see it!
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