21st Century Opportunity

“MOST PEOPLE MISS AN OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE WORK.”

— Thomas A. Edison

“You youngsters are so lucky; I was never given the opportunities you have” the number of times I have heard this I can’t count. But how do I recognise an opportunity, know that it’s a good one or that I am lucky? I look at people my age and I see a stressed, tired generation who are put under immense pressure to perform at exams and trying to start a career, yet they are meant to be having ‘the time of their life’! This, coupled with the negative impact of social media influencers who constantly remind us that we are not perfect enough, there is no wonder we are in the midst of a mental health crisis.

We are a generation that want everything and we want it now. Knowledge is at our fingertips (if you don’t know you can ‘Google it’) and we just don’t relate to the old adage that working your way through the ranks is the best way when we are constantly coming across overnight millionaires made on YouTube.

21st century living means whether you are a millennial or a ‘snowflake’, with today’s technology and communication channels, you don’t need to be ‘given’ the opportunities - you can create them for yourself.

Creating your own opportunities, however, does sound easier than it is. Dismay comes when you realise that you can’t just dive in headfirst with no real idea what you’re doing and expect 10/10 results.

Here are a few tips to help make that dive result in a high score rather than a disqualification for a belly flop!

Make sure your skills match your passion. Yes, this sounds simple in theory, but this will define your niche and once this is under your belt, it will be easier to beat out the competition. Your unique skillset should be used to its full extent.

Do everything you can to get yourself seen; write articles for the local paper or magazine (they are always looking for interesting stuff that they don’t have to write themselves), create blogs, post on social media, publish your own book if you must. Just know that this is increasing your reputation and profile and if this is done well, people in your field will start noticing you and if they don’t you will still have a great portfolio to show them when you finally meet.

Creating your own opportunity is based on doing, but it is also about how you go about doing these things. Being a positive, passionate, polite and enthusiastic person will radiate in your work and will get noticed. Don’t throw away manners or trample others to get to the top, you might meet those people as peers or even bosses one day and they won’t look kindly on you for your bad behaviour. Creating strong, lasting relationships will help you in the long run, a person is more likely to think of you for a role or opportunity if you are helpful and charismatic.

Wanting to achieve in your area of expertise straight away is the dream, albeit naïve, that’s what we want at the end of the day, no? Don’t be too hard on yourself, we all know that immediate success is very hard to come by. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help; there isn’t any shame in questioning things and most people will gladly help if you ask them.

Opportunities are hard to come by in your comfort zone, being stuck inside the box will not get you the kind of attention you want. As Bowie said “if you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something.”

Having the drive to get what you want is the most important thing, if you have confidence in yourself, it will translate in your work. The same must be said in that if something isn’t working or you thought you would be further along in a stage by now, try taking a different approach. A fresh perspective can really turn things around and help you ……