Similarities in picking wild blackberries and finding opportunities in life. When you see blackberries every year the joy of eating tasty sour berries for the next few weeks is here. Yet they must be harvested.
Look first. Are there bears? If not choose your footing carefully. Blackberries are thorny. First place your feet carefully. Step on the shoots and position yourself close as reasonable. Stumbling or falling into blackberries is painful!
That big juicy blackberry you saw that made you go in there? Look up and pick it. Ripe blackberries come off with a soft tug. Won’t come, it isn’t ready. Leave it for next week or the next person. Don’t be greedy. More berries grow every day.
Then look left and right, when there is one there are more around. Look up, but don’t be wistful about the blackberries out of reach. Unless you plan to come back with equipment, harvest the one available now. Look down, so few people do. The sweetest blackberries are hidden in the shade. Use the leaves to help push thorns out of the way to find more.
What has this to do with opportunities? They are plentiful like blackberries. You don’t get the assignment or job you want? Find more opportunities. They exist in your company or business now. If not there are more around. In one county there are over 100,000 businesses.
Don’t race after the first opportunity without checking it out. Scams where people try to get you to buy something or steal your identity abound. One company interviewed with was trying to recruit me for sales. However they couldn’t answer the business question how do you make money? My wife was contacted for sales job that sounded like fun for any social 20 year old, but didn’t seem to offer any services. They charged for their software to work for them, that is how they scammed people.
Opportunities outside your core business skills look enticing, but investigate first. Are they a shiny distraction? Does it interest you because it is novel? Exciting? Look easy? What is the strategic advantage of this opportunity? Who are the competitors? We are never the only person to see them.
Is it profitable opportunity? Looked at several restaurant options over years, and had friends start restaurants. Anyone can open a restaurant, little qualifications other than signing a lease. Long days, health regulations, advertising, challenges finding help, and tiny profit margins await you. Several couples divorced over strain of running restaurants, often followed by bankruptcy.
Be strategic. Know who you are, your talents and skills so you can explain how you can help. In sales you want to know how you benefit the customer. To harvest your opportunities plan where and how to spend your time. Learn their pains and how you can contribute to customer’s well being. Then your reward is a bountiful harvest to enjoy.
