I was reviewing my posts of 2013 and 2012, wondering what to write about. Closer to the end of the year we start making a kind of a balance of what has happened and some of us decide to come up with a long list of New Year´s resolutions…I am not inclined to do it for this new Year 2014…may be just a few things that are really important to be improved/changed; attitudes and behaviours that are not good value to keep them with me.
Taking in consideration all these thoughts I came up with my Preparing a Good Plan B post of November 2012 It caught my attention because I remembered my experience in the UK, where planning ahead and having a good plan B seemed to be ingrained in the culture of the country. It is always great to find a perfect balance between preparing and going with the flow…but to be honest taking in consideration the time we are living in I think that having always another plan, resources or ideas to keep you going is a wise strategy.
Preparing a good plan B means that you are making yourself aware of things that are coming and changing, like future trends that can become realities. If you realize about them early on, they can lead you to play the game of life/work with a bit of advantage. We cannot risk ourselves to become obsolete or in the situation where you say “It is too bad that I often do not recognize an opportunity until it has departed. On occasions I have made my own opportunities”. Well yes, to spot an opportunity we need to be there looking, observing, alert but I found more interesting the last bit of the sentence “ On occasions I have made my own opportunities”.
What do you think this mean?
On one hand I think that we must be aware of future trends and signals that the things are changing, to be there and to be able to adapt and on the other hand I feel that more than waiting for things to come to you, it is your chance to learn to create opportunities rather than waiting for others to do it for you.
When you take responsibility of what you are doing, your own choices in life and also you decide that from now own you want to play by other set of rules…. then you can create your own opportunity: it could be anything, like creating a new networking group in your town because you have been to many of them and you think there is a better approach, while suggesting your employer to create a new role after analyzing data trends and missed sales opportunities, creating your own blog about your best treatments for delicate plants…then there, you will feel that you have created your own future that you have not waited to others to tell you what to do or just spotting the occasion to make the best of it.
This is my wish for 2014 being able to spot opportunities but also to create them, for me and for others, rather than becoming negative about our economic and political situation, start switching on and realizing that the power of creating new opportunities are in our own hands.
As Francis Bacon said “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds”
In the following link you can read the article “ Why we won´t need college in 15 years”
http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2013/07/31/why-we-wont-need-college-in-15-years/
Instead of only focusing on traditional college and degrees, internet has made available another ways of learning…yes, employers may not value them but what is the future trend? Can you see there an opportunity?
Be alert this new Year 2014 and create your own opportunities, even little, they are so important and they should be welcomed!
Happy New Year 2014!
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