Abrupt Advice: Opening Opportunities
“There’s no point, it’s not like I’m going to get it anyway”
You have probably said something along the lines of this at some point in your life. It is a quote that can be applicable in many circumstances. It is a quote that has closed doors, squandered opportunities and even changed lives. However, you may not realize that you are not the only one thinking this.
Let’s say you are applying for a job, but the competition is tough. You know that there are three other applicants who, in your opinion, are just as qualified as you. There are two ways that the situation can go: you either apply or you don’t. You decide to go for it, even though you are unsure of what will happen. Later, you learn that one applicant cancelled their application. The company asks you for an interview. You accept. After the interview, you feel as though you made a good impression. A week later, when you have almost given up hope, they offer you the job. It turns out that while the other applicants have had similar accomplishments to you, the recruiter felt that their personalities weren’t a good fit for the company.
If you had not applied because you doubted your worth or thought that you wouldn’t get the offer, you would have missed the opportunity. Whether this example applies to you or not, the lesson is to take chances. You’ve heard this many times before — Just do it. Life is a game of probability, but not in the way you might expect.
It is important to know the difference between taking a risk, a chance, and an opportunity. Taking a risk will either have a large beneficial payoff or an adverse effect. Taking a chance may result in gain, but if not the consequences aren’t major. Opportunities are chances to gain something with no downside.
There is a misconception that opportunities are rare, but in reality, they aren’t. You just need to start creating them for yourself. Are you interested in a certain person’s work? Send them a message. Want to learn about a certain topic? Find a seminar. Feeling lucky? Enter a raffle. The point is that you shouldn’t hope for an opportunity to arise, you should create them for yourself. If you hope for something, take the steps to make that hope a reality. The more chances you take and the more opportunities you have, the more likely you will reach what you are aiming for.
In summary: make opportunities, take action.
Abrupt Advice is a series of short articles in which I list some advice and practices that I’ve learned with time. These articles are based on personal experience and opinion, so feel free to disagree with certain statements. If I’ve inspired you or if you have suggestions for topics/edits, please leave a comment.
Thanks for reading! I’m a university student passionate about emerging technology, coding, engineering, and more. You can follow me or connect with me on LinkedIn.
