💡 Talent + Opportunity + Timing (Issue #582)

Maximize your odds of success

I just made myself hungry with this new acronym. 😂

TOT: Talent + Opportunity + Timing

I’m watching some people succeed in this new job market while others are struggling. I see a similar dynamic play out inside companies, as well. Some people seem to get handed the best projects and move up the promotion ladder much more quickly than others.

Of course, success is linked to your talent. We all have a degree of natural talent that we’re born with as children (e.g., raw intelligence). But much of what we call “talent” in the working world is more closely related to your relevant skills, useful knowledge and wisdom, and related experience.

Guess what? You can work on all those factors.

• Keep developing skills to position yourself for the future roles you want. Look for programs at work, but also seek the training you need if your employer doesn’t provide it. Don’t sit back and wait!

• Acquire the knowledge you need to improve your job performance. The Internet is a magical place! I wish I’d had access to something like that when I was young.

• Make a plan to work on projects and for the right employers to gain the experience that will put you on the right path to your goals. Do you want to ride the AI wave? Well, start working on some AI projects!

But other factors come into play, too.

You must become skilled at recognizing great opportunities when they present themselves. And you need the courage to seize them! When you know where you want to go next—and where you want your career to end up eventually—relevant opportunities stand out (and irrelevant ones are easier to avoid).

You will increase your odds of finding the right opportunities by putting yourself out there and connecting with people more often. I prefer to talk about connecting and reconnecting rather than networking. Shallow networking behavior won’t help you, but it’s really hard to discover new opportunities if you stay stuck in your daily rut and only talk to the same people every day!

Timing is a matter of luck. We’ve all witnessed great ideas fail because they launched at the wrong time. And we’ve watched mediocre ideas take off because they hit a great launch window.

Sure, you can improve your timing with a good prediction of where things might be going. But you can also increase your odds of hitting the right timing by being visible every day and by testing lots of ideas frequently.

It will be hard to miss the window of opportunity if you're always knocking at that window!

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I’m Larry Cornett, a Freedom Coach who works with you to optimize your career, business, and life. My mission is to help you become a more "Invincible You" so you can live your life on your terms instead of being controlled by someone else's rules. I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash