Bobby Unser said, “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” opportunities have and continue to change people’s lives. Mine isn’t different, through Atlas Corps fellowship I have been exposed to different opportunities that are of great interest and to my career and impact as a social change leader. An interesting thing about life is that we are always coming across a lot of possibilities and opportunities to grow or move to the next level. Business growth, change in lifestyle, relationships, careers, even becoming famous can be because opportunities are handed to us. Access to opportunities brings about the change we want, seek and unexpected change for sometimes. For example, if you have a business idea having done all the research, planned and so forth, the next possible step is to find the opportunity to network with the right people/industries and move forward. Opportunities play an integral role in the search for solutions to problems.
SMART Goals are key in deciding what opportunities work for you and are necessary for your growth. There are a lot of opportunities out there and this can be very overwhelming but narrowing down to what kind of opportunities you should be looking for is key to achieving set goals. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Therefore, a SMART goal incorporates all these criteria to help focus your efforts and increase the chances of achieving that goal. Here are some of the things to consider:
- Specific: make sure your set goals are well defined and clear
- Measurable: Think about what success will look like for you when you get that specific opportunity numbers
- Attainable: Where and how you will attain these goals defines the kind of opportunities to look for
- Relevant: How relevant are these goals your growth or your current place
- Time-based: Set goals should have a time bound which will determine how much you should push for opportunities
I would like to take you on a personal journey and how I have applied this concept: One of the development and growth goals I have for the next 8 months is to make beneficial networks, improve in communication and leadership skills to get equipped with the essential capacity to lead and offer innovative solutions to complex social problems being faced in my country. With this at the back of my head came an opportunity to attend the Presidential Precinct, Global Leadership Forum (GLF) Themed Collaborative Solutions for Social Impact. The GLF aimed at strengthening participant’s leadership capacities, engaging with experts in development-related fields, and building a global professional network. I will call this opportunity one of a kind; It was a week of life-changing, everything that I wanted as far as getting opportunities was concerned. Attending this forum offered me benefits of making long-lasting friendships with other inspirational leaders, networks with technical experts, I was inspired, challenged to do more and better, my inner potentials intrigued and above all I got a deeper understanding of the SDGs, challenges that are being faced and possible solutions and contributions as a global leader to achieve the SDGs.
“As far as opportunities are concerned, I define Atlas Corps as an opportunity for opening more opportunities”. They are these kinds of opportunities that change makers need in order to succeed.
