WHEN YOU’RE presented with an opportunity, whether you’re in a 9-5 job or want to start your own business, it can be difficult to know when to take the opportunity and when not to take it. This article provides 3 situations to take an opportunity and 3 situations not to take it.
Key Takeaways
- If you trust a gut reaction, you trust yourself to make the right decision.
- If time passes, the opportunity is still available, and you still feel it might be a good thing, take it.
- If the only good thing about the opportunity you’re looking at is that it pays more money, it’s not worth taking.
Should You Take the Opportunity? Or Not?
Take the Opportunity If Your Gut Is Telling You the Right Thing
If you’ve been presented with an opportunity and feel in your gut that you should take it, do it. Gut feelings rise in your body; it’s hard to explain to others why you think you should take a certain action. If you trust a gut reaction, you trust yourself to make the right decision. It’s a way of stepping outside your comfort zone.
If your gut is telling you it’s time to quit your job and start that business you always wanted to start, the next best steps to take before you quit your job might be to form a 9-5 exit strategy and consult an entrepreneurship coach. Not taking risks is risky. You don’t have to be amazing to start a business, but you should have a safety net while it gets off the ground.
Don’t Take the Opportunity if It’s Only Motivated by Money
Being an entrepreneur is hard. If the only good thing about the opportunity you’re looking at is that it pays more money, it’s not worth taking.
If you’re working as a telemarketer now and you hate it, even if you’re good at it, it doesn’t make sense to take another telemarketing job just because it pays better. You’re better off keeping your current telemarketing job and finding a part-time job or starting a side hustle doing something you love, then when you’ve got a window of opportunity and think you can raise your income levels working your side hustle full-time, quit your telemarketing job.
Take the Opportunity When the Time Has Passed, and You Still Feel Positive About It
On the other hand, if you’re working a telemarketing job and you’re offered a job doing something you love at less money, even if you pass on it initially you might still be able to take advantage of it later. If time passes, the opportunity is still available, and you still feel it might be a good thing, take it.
It doesn’t make sense to spend your life working your life away at a job you hate if you still feel positive about an opportunity that could be better. Stepping outside your comfort zone is easier when you know you’re doing something that could potentially be exciting.
Don’t Take the Opportunity When It Puts Your Relationships at Risk
No new job is worth putting your relationships at risk. More time at work means less time for your kids during the school year, even if it is more money. Money is not a substitute for personal relationships.
Take the Opportunity if It Moves You Closer to Your Goals
If the new job moves you closer to your life goals without any other negative repercussions, take it.
If you get an opportunity to make more money doing what you love or move into a role you’ve wanted to move into, take it. Accomplishing goals is part of what makes life worth living. If you take a job that moves you closer to your life goals and the important people in your life support you, you’ll feel more fulfilled, and you’ll inspire others. You’re also more likely to be successful at a job you enjoy.
It’s also easier to be passionate about a job that moves you closer to your goals – this mindset can be difficult to maintain when working at a tedious job. To change the way you think, you must also change how you work. Find the significance in your efforts, live your organization’s vision, and work with your colleagues, and you can encourage positive change and move closer to success.
Every company has a mission or vision they work to achieve. Whether they clothe the homeless or create happy, loyal customers while keeping costs down for their company, raising your significance while working towards that goal can keep you on the path to success. When you see your part in the big picture and realize your worth, you’ll naturally feel positive and passionate about what you do.
Don’t Take the Opportunity if It Could Damage Your Reputation
Any job that will move you toward your goals is a good thing, but not at the risk of damaging your reputation. Having a good reputation is important if you want to get ahead in business and raise your income levels. Others’ perceptions of you precede you even before you enter a room or send them an email. Even if you’re not meeting them in person, they may have already researched you online and know quite a bit about you. You may not be given an opportunity if have a negative reputation. Protect your reputation and respond to negative comments immediately. But also know which battles to fight and which to walk away from.
When Opportunity Knocks
Those are three 3 you should take the opportunity and 3 times you shouldn’t. When opportunity knocks, take the first step and evaluate it based on the criteria presented here. If your gut tells you it’s the right thing, it moves you closer to your goals, and you still feel positive about it after time has passed, especially if you can say “no” to all of the “don’t take” reasons, take the opportunity. You won’t know what’s waiting for you on the other side unless you take small steps to improve your goals and your life.