opportunity : The Art of Non-Conformity

Life

Opportunity Waits in the Time of Uncertainty

Wow, what happened to the world in the past week?

I’m writing to you from my sanitized desk in an underground bunker ... well, it’s not quite like that. But what a difference a few days makes.

All of a sudden, millions of people have found themselves working remotely or not working at all, unexpectedly arranging childcare because the schools have closed, and running over neighbors in the toilet paper aisle at Costco.

Well, guess what: I’m not going to say “life goes on” (even though it will) and I won’t claim this isn’t a big deal (it is). We should take COVID-19 seriously and do what we can to stay safe.

That said, there’s only so much you can control. Sure, you should wash your hands more often, but ultimately what happens next is out of those same hands.

If there's any good news, it's this: with uncertainty comes opportunity.

There’s Always a New Trick to Learn

"The great thing about a world record is that it gives meaning to a mundane task.

I don’t worry too much about people emulating me because people who have the get-up-and-go to do something like this usually have the common sense to know when something's going wrong.! It's a good time to be an inventor. If people want to learn to do something, they can easily get the information where before it was quite hard.

There’s always a new trick to learn. There’s always something you can do bigger and better."

A Challenging Question

In talking with Chris Brogan for his new podcast recently, he said something I've been thinking of ever since. It was a question that you ask yourself when evaluating new opportunities. This question didn't actually come from Chris—I believe he said it was from one of his other podcast guests—but Chris is the one who implanted it in my head.

The question is: How will this new opportunity help me serve the community I already have?

Wow. Tough question.

“If they hadn’t been pushed, they never would have made the leap”

I read an interesting article in USA Today recently, which profiled seven people who unexpectedly lost their job, then turned around to create a situation better than the one they lost. From a bus driver to a piñata maker, each of these very different individuals used the negative experience of being laid off to make an even bigger, positive change ...