When was the last time you saw an opportunity, grabbed it, and ended up not regretting it?
A few months ago I did exactly just that, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Let me tell you why it's great to be a go-getter and how you can be one.
So here's the backstory.
On October 2020 I received an email at work: Quench, the company's annual exclusive event, is expanding its reach and they're looking for volunteer speakers from offices around the world.
Quench is an annual tradition within the London office where anyone can talk about anything under the sun that they're passionate about. The only rule is it should not be related to work.
Because of the work-from-home situation we went through in 2020, the organizers decided to open the topic submissions to everyone, even to colleagues who are based abroad.
They staged Quench 2020 to be fully virtual, so more people can participate as speakers and as part of the audience.
When I got that email, I immediately knew I wanted to volunteer as speaker. For months, I've had a blog post topic in mind about people's natural reaction towards compliments, but I hadn't gotten around to writing it yet.
So I submitted that idea as a talk topic. A couple of weeks later, I received an email from one of the organizers — I got in!
I couldn't believe it, to be honest. Granted, I really wanted to be a part of the speaker gang. But I didn't get my hopes up because I thought that a lot of my colleagues in Manila and from other countries would also love to have an opportunity to speak at Quench.
As it turned out, I was the only speaker who represented the Manila office. If I had let my doubts overcome me, I probably wouldn't have submitted a topic in the first place.
Needless to say, I am so glad I decided to shoot my shot. Sometimes you really won't know if the opportunity is for you if you don't try to grab it. This is why it's great to be a go-getter.
I enjoyed interacting with my foreign colleagues and listening to my co-speakers' inspired talks during the two Quench sessions we had. That was the only time I was exposed to my global colleagues and it was a great experience.
I'll be honest — I swell with pride every time I remember that the company's worldwide CEO, Andy Main, actually listened to my talk. And it always makes my heart full when I'm reminded of the encouragements I received from my co-speakers and the organizers.
So how can you become a go-getter yourself?
1. Learn to recognize opportunities
Opportunities can either come to you or you have to look for them. You'll be able to recognize opportunities when you know what you want.
I immediately knew that Quench was an opportunity for me to speak to a global audience because I wanted to have a platform where I can share my ideas as a speaker.
Having a decisive attitude enables you recognize and look for opportunities where you can thrive.
2. Assess if the opportunity is right for you
When an opportunity comes along, how will you know if it's the right one?
Sometimes there are indicators, like how well the factors in the situation fit together or how smooth the process is. Other times the path is more difficult to take, but because you know that the end goal or reward outweighs the challenges, you're going in the right direction.
Like I mentioned earlier, you also won't know if the opportunity is a good fit for you if you don't make a move to grab it. For instance, I knew I wanted to be a Quench speaker. But I was only able to confirm that it was really for me after I got my slot confirmation.
There are times when a seemingly good opportunity presents itself, but there are red flags. If there's something wrong with the process or what you will achieve through it, you can take it as a good basis to let the opportunity pass.
3. Take it or leave it
After assessing the kind of opportunity you have, the next decision to make is to grab it or let it pass.
It takes courage to do either one of those so you really need to ask for wisdom and a strong will. You'll need those especially for big life decisions.
We are so prone to say yes to everything or say no to what's good for us simply because we look at opportunities with a limited perspective.
Pray about it, take sound advice from those you trust, and go for what gives you peace of mind and heart.
Knowing when to shoot your shot and when to let opportunities pass are life skills you'll never regret learning.
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