When Fate Knocks, But You’re In The Shower
After exiting a coffee shop the other day, Mike, a friend of mine who is desperately looking for a new job, ran into Seth Godin on an empty sidewalk.
Mike: Seth Godin? Seth: Yes Mike: Big fan. Read your books. Seth: Thank you. What’s your name? Mike: Mike Seth: What are you working on these days, Mike? Mike: … Seth: … Mike: I, uhhh Seth: …
It’s not that he didn’t know what he does at work, and it’s not that he didn’t know the kind of job he was looking for, it’s that he hadn’t ever articulated it concisely. He knew a rambling story about “well a couple years ago,” and “then I left that company,” and “my boss is kind of,” isn’t what Seth anted into the chat. Seth, was good for one sentence, maybe two, and then poof, he’d be gone.
In the end, Mike fumbled through an answer of self-validation and confusion before bidding adieu to the most influential marketer on the planet.
I don’t write this to poke fun at Mike, I write this because we’ve all been Mike. There seems to be a gap between what we want to happen and how life is supposed to help us to get there.
If someone you looked up to asked you “What are you working on these days?” or “How can I help?” would you know what you’d say?
Always have a two sentence personal elevator pitch ready, because like lightning, opportunity seeks prominence, but while lightning strikes the highest point, opportunity finds the clearest one.
You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready.
On that note, I’m bringing back Magnet, a networking event which recreates that above scenario (The “How can I help?” part, not the awkward stumbling part.) for ~30 people, and one aimed at making reciprocity the first step in any connection. It’s free but there are only so many tickets left: Feb 8, in NYC.
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