Seize Opportunity

 

India is one of the fastest-growing GDP in the world. All heads are turning to India. Everyone in the world is eyeing India, as a major investment destination. With so much FDI coming into India, are you geared up to take up the many opportunities that this new ecosystem will create?

So, how do you look at this?  Do you see all these developments as a problem or as a possibility? Are you skeptical or are you raving to go and become a part of India’s growth story?

 

Take some time to introspect, on how you handle opportunities. Are you reluctant and find excuses or do you grab it quickly and make it happen?  Opportunities are quick to come and quick to go and it is important to act on it swiftly.

If you are not acting on it, ask yourself, “What is stopping me from taking up the new opportunities, that are coming my way? Is it my conservative or contended mindset? Is it my lack of skills? Is it my lack of financial resources? Or is it just my lack of guts?

While everything plays a crucial role, quite often it is our lack of guts that is the stumbling block.  (though not many of us may admit it).  All of us are afraid to take risks. What if I do something new and fail? But, as you know, there are no rewards without risks.

 

When opportunity comes your way, say Yes first and then see how we can figure it out. This might sound contradictory to conventional belief, but this is the new reality. Let me illustrate this with an interesting incident.

One of my friends had applied for a job and he was called for an interview. At the interview, he was asked whether he knew how to operate a computer. He had no idea, about computers, and had never used one before. However, in his desperate need to get the job, he replied YES. The interviewer immediately asked him to do some typing work in the computer system located in the office. To his luck, one MS Word blank document file was already open in the system and so he immediately went and started typing (he was proficient in typing). The interviewer was impressed by his work speed and gave him a job. The same evening, he got the job, he went to a computer training institute and enrolled himself for computer course and started learning the needed computers skills.  Though computer skill was a pre-requisite for the job, he learnt the skill on the go and step by step, he has now risen in his ladder to become an HR manager of that company. Following the saying, “Luck favours the brave.” his brave affirmative answer was the stepping stone, to what he has achieved in life.

Here is another example that you might be able to relate to. You might have noticed that, when you visit some shop and ask for a particular product, the shopkeeper may not have that item readily available, but he knows where to procure it. So, he will immediately tell you that it is in the godown and ask you to please be seated for a few minutes. He will thereupon summon one of his employees to go and fetch the item. The person he summons knows where to get it from. So, he rushes to the shop, buys it, and brings it here and the sale is made. For example, the cost of the product might have been Rs.100/- and the shopkeeper would easily sell it for Rs.120/- thereby making a profit, and at the same time pleasing the customer, with his wonderful customer service. This is another classic example of seizing the opportunity.

 Sometimes, we may not have all the right answers, but we should have the courage to take the plunge and figure out the solutions on the go.  It is only in times of discomfort that our minds get sharp and start to explore all the different possibilities to make things happen.

Of course, it doesn’t always work in one’s favour. It can backfire too. But with this rapidly changing world, it is difficult to be always prepared. The best way to handle uncertainties is to be quick to adapt. I read a WhatsApp DP status that read “When nothing is certain, anything is possible”. This is the mindset needed to break out of our comfort zone and try out something new. It is a mark of a progressive mind.

Remember this, “People who are reluctant always miss the bus. Good opportunities are rare and when it knocks your door, grab it and don’t let it pass.”

   D. Senthil Kannan,

   CEO, PALMS Training & Consulting (P) Ltd., Tuticorin.

   Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

   Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com