Category: opportunity

Targets of Rare Opportunity

We are all busy. We all have our plans to accomplish, our daily routines to follow, and our hopes and dreams to chase. And yet, you will find that occasionally something comes along which is so very poignant, we find ourselves having to stop and treat the situation differently. I call this a target of a rare opportunity.

Targets of rare opportunity lay outside the realm of everyday life. And yet we will all find them, sometimes without even searching for them. The opportunity is to do something different or meaningful for ourselves and for someone else. Targets of opportunity often grant a change for the better for those they affect and those that are affected by the changes that will come.

A target of opportunity is a chance to do something good. To change something for someone else in a positive way. It is usually a way that you have never thought of, for someone or something that you have never noticed. It is also something that has the potential to profoundly change your life for the better.

Before you dismiss this idea as romantic poetry and pie-in-the-sky mentality, think back. Did somebody ever grab your hand just before you stepped in front of a speeding car? Has someone ever shown up exactly when you needed them? Did you ever get an award or reward that you never expected? Has anything else happened to you unexpectedly out of the blue, positively changing your life for the better?

The truth is these moments in realizing a target of opportunity cannot be planned and are very hard to seek after. Targets of opportunity are very serendipitous in nature. When you recognize one, you want to pay attention and take action. Moments like this do not come often, and have a tendency to fade fast if not acted on. It is usually a disturbing thought to realize you had an opportunity and missed it. After all, real targets of opportunity are not that common.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Targets of Opportunity

Through all of our planning and research, our nose firmly planted on the grindstone, and working with the best of intentions, there are occasionally targets of opportunity that would be foolish to miss.  They seldom knock on your door and rarely disturb you if you are busy watching TV or playing a video game. Yet, please make no mistake, they are there.

One of the tricks to finding a target of opportunity is that you have to be where they are found. Targets of opportunity are usually found around other people. Because we do not live and work in a vacuum, the opportunity will often help you and another person with whom you are discussing the ideas. In business, good targets of opportunity are rarely one-sided. For serendipity to take its course, you have to be out and active where people, and opportunities are found.

The next part is a little hard for introverts, but I promise you will get used to it and, some of you may enjoy it. The next thing you need to do is mingle. Talk to people. Get to know them. Let them talk first and ask questions. Maybe nothing comes of it, and maybe you find out that the two of you have things in common. Perhaps, you have shared ideas,  and you can help each other. And possibly, you have a moment of serendipity which I call a target of opportunity.

The trick is not to rush things. Be interested, ask questions, share a few ideas from around the edges of the project, and be polite. Do some research so that you can know who the person is and if they’re on the level or not. And the most important thing you need to do, and this is big, follow up.

It is incredible how many great opportunities elude us. We miss them because we met an opening to do great things in a casual setting. We had a momentary lapse where we did not think of the business. Maybe the two or three of us were talking the same thing from different viewpoints with different knowledge bases. We don’t always know why something good happens and why it does not.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again soon.

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