Sometimes it pays to try and identify the key virtues I have found in others that help them build their career, their life, and make their dreams a reality. Today’s hidden skillset? Taking advantage of opportunities.
I’ve never been much of a ladies man. Sure there was a brief time in high school when I paid as much attention to “getting phone numbers” as I did to graduating. In college, being a quarterback on the football team didn’t hurt my chances while undoubtedly contributing to a skewed valuation of my personal charms. And even now, usually after I receive a massive jolt of confidence from winning an assignment, an Austin Powers level of “mojo” may briefly return to me, likely to disappear as quickly as it arrives.
No, this is not a letter to the lovelorn. Rather I bring up romance as a means of observation. You see the times when I am most successful on the dating front are also the times when I am most alert to love’s potential. The romantic opportunities don’t ebb and flow so much as it may seem. Instead, it is my attention and reaction to these opportunities that comes and goes.
To highlight my point, let’s take the case of a college friend of mine who was, by any objective measure, something of a Casanova. Not that he was especially handsome. He was a fairly average looking dude. He had a fairly average build. A good personality, but not someone who necessarily exuded charisma. In other words, he was just a regular joe. Yet every time I turned around it seemed like he was starting a new relationship (I’ll leave aside for a moment the question of whether being a “ladies man” is actually a good thing or if one should be looking for “the one” as that is the subject for another site).
I could never help but to ask myself the question, what is it that this guy has that others, including myself, do not? Then, finally, one night while talking to my roommate, another mutual friend who had recognized the same phenomenon, the answer became clear. Sitting up late in our dorm room, listening to “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” via a football-sized boom box, and rapping openly about our own romantic travails, he hit the nail on the head.
“Where are we right now?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what are we doing at this very second?”
“Sitting in our room. Talking. Listening to music.”
“Well, where do you think he is? He’s out there.”
Where exactly “there” referred to was beside the point. I understood what he was saying. Whether it was Plum Crazies, the local nightclub or “The Yard” where all the students hung out and socialized 24 hours a day or even just taking the time to chat one-on-one with someone new in the school cafeteria, our friend was out there. While we were in our room complaining, he was meeting new people. He was generating leads. And, most important, he was alert to opportunities.
All day. Everyday. I may have been able to enhance my dating options when I was in the mood and decided to put my mind to it. But this guy? Well, his radar simply never turned off. He never took a rest day. And he never missed an opening.
All these years later, and I still have not forgotten my roommate's keen observation. Sad to say, I’m still not much of a Casanova. My, at times, monastic focus on my career tends to monopolize whatever level of mental energy I am able to muster on any given day. But, as art is my first love, I do find myself being able to apply my roommate’s wisdom in a far more practical way.
Being an entrepreneur also requires you to be out there. It requires you to constantly generate new leads and seize on every potential opportunity. It requires you to be alert to signals.
You must be on at all times. Just because you are currently in the grocery store shopping for a rather specific type of pickle doesn’t mean you can afford to miss a chance to introduce yourself when a potential client suddenly turns down your aisle.
When a bit of news drops that XYZ Client is looking to do a huge project in your area in the next week, you don’t have the luxury of sitting home and listening to records... or CDs... or mp3s... or Spotify. No, you need to recognize the opportunity and capture it right at that moment.
Just like in the dating world, you’re likely going to need to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince or princess. It can be a numbers game. You’ll need to generate a multitude of chances, knowing that, of the initial bunch, only a handful may turn into gold. To take advantage of these potential opportunities, you have to first remain on the lookout for opportunities at all times.
Also, like the dating world, you need to be alert to signals. Is your date leaning in for a kiss, or trying to let you down politely? Does their body language indicate they want another date? Or is it just not the right fit? These exact same things can apply to business (minus the kissing part). Are there signals that they may be in need of your photographic services soon? Does their brand aesthetic have chemistry with your own?
Stay alert. Stay active. Stay out there and be open to opportunities. Your dating life may not flourish, but your business definitely will.
