The "right time" you are waiting for will never come

I once had a job where my line manager approached me and we had a novel conversation: don't be afraid of promotions.

Yes, I was one of those people who was afraid of promotions.

It's not that I didn't want a higher title and salary, but the pressure of changing roles that comes with a promotion can make me shy away. When you do a junior job, you just need to do a good job with the skills at hand; but when you move up to the role of manager, you need to take on a certain amount of sales targets. For example, the previous work, the management of their line; and then rise to the need to manage other colleagues, but these people under your control and can not be designated by you, often those are some unruly master, then your pressure will become greater. There are often promotions and "at risk" related to a field project that has gone three project managers in a row, you need to accept the appointment to the top ...... I always back out at the critical moment and provide a legitimate and sufficient reason: I am not ready, so I am afraid that my current ability is difficult to do ......

For a long time, I was proud of myself for being so "down-to-earth" and "humble," which I felt showed that I was a responsible and humble person. Until I quit that job, my boss gave me heartfelt advice when I left: I hope you will not be too comfortable with the status quo, but more aggressive.

I was surprised and defiant: I am not refusing to seize the opportunity ah, is not the time ah!

I have a friend whose experience and performance are exactly the opposite of mine.

She has been recognized in the workplace as a "good guy" soft persimmon, more than me to settle for the status quo, the only wish is to take a few more days of annual leave. As a result, the two factions of the leadership of the fight, and finally ended up losing both, the unit reorganization of the department after deliberating the new department candidates for half a day, choose to choose she was chosen - because only she does not belong to any faction, will not provoke too much conflict.

The friend who was herded onto the shelf was not happy, because the work of the department's leadership is not good, both as a boat on the tip of the wave like a great balance of skills, but also knowing how to handle the skills of speech to pinpoint the right. Friends do not want to do and do not know how to say to the head of the above, tossing and turning when appointed, it is said that she did not rejoice, but was urged to give birth to Chinese hair.

But up also went up, it seems difficult, split into each day, also passed. There were certainly a lot of problems, but the good thing is that the department had just been bloodied once and could not be shaken twice in a short time, so some of the difficulties were also held up by her teeth. As a result, she did two years in that position, and later was headhunted to a Scandinavian company to do the same job, although the title is the same, the salary has doubled several times, interpersonal relationships are also much simpler, and she by "decent" and "well thought out She is trusted by her boss for being "decent" and "well thought out".

Faced with opportunities and major decisions, our most natural reaction is to wait for the right time, but what is the right time? We don't know and we don't think clearly, so we leave the answer to the future in a muddle.

Chief Technology Officer Padmasi? Wallace was once asked, "What is the most important lesson you have learned from past mistakes?"

She replied, "When I was starting, I turned down a lot of opportunities because I thought, 'I'm not good enough for this job at this level,' or 'I don't know this field yet. In retrospect, the ability to learn quickly and make things happen at a given time was what mattered. I often mention to people today that when you're looking for your next goal, there's no such thing as the exact right time. You have to take the initiative and create an opportunity that suits you, rather than just turning it down. The ability to learn is the most important trait a leader must possess."

Padmasi's answer teaches us three things.

1. Strong women do not come up to the battlefield omnipotent and ready for everything, they are often pushed into the battlefield at the beginning as well.

2. There is no perfect time in life unless you "push" yourself a little. Our fear often comes from the uncertainty of whether we can do the job, but also from the fear of the pressure that will be put on us. The more people usually like to think, like planning, the more likely to have fear, but the usual big-hearted or utilitarian people will not be so much worry, and happy to go up. As for how to adapt to a higher position, you can do it first. This shows that "do and say" than "think first and then do" is better, learn quickly and making achievements are the main ones.

3. In a fast-moving society, it is important to seize opportunities and not worry about whether you need to stand on your toes. Frankly speaking, it is not easy to give you a chance in the workplace, and no leader will repeatedly persuade a silent and cautious person to apply for a higher position. More realistically, you may feel that you are not qualified to try, but around you, some people are not as capable as you but dare to try. If you don't, they will, and they will run up the ladder at a faster rate.

The question of "the right time" is not only in the workplace, but also often in our lives: when to change jobs, when to go abroad, when to get married, and when to have children ...... For these common problems, we often give Tnly the ambiguous answer: it is not yet appropriate, and so on the conditions are more mature.

When is the "right time"? This question is difficult to answer. The interesting thing is that if these things happen without planning, such as being called by a headhunter to suggest jumping a ship or having a baby by accident, we can all accept it gladly. It is clear that our hearts are willing to embrace some opportunities for change, but instinctively resist the risks that change can bring.

After all these years, I suddenly understood that opportunity does not come from how much risk your choices contain in the future, but from one's total commitment to something and the effort you are willing to put into it. If we always sit on the escalator like a passive waiting for luck to come, generally will not have the expected good things happen.

Yahoo president Mayer once mentioned in a speech that people should do something that they are not ready to do. Doing something you're scared of means you'll take a step forward, you'll learn something new, and you'll grow.

Of course, forcing ourselves to disrupt our rhythm and move up and forward enough is necessarily not an easy task, we need to find our rhythm. Look at yourself, and then look around, you will find that those who are dissatisfied with the workplace, with life, are dissatisfied not with the environment, or that they are not good enough, but that they have not tried to shift to be a better version of themselves.

We need to be clear about the fact that there will never be a "perfect time" in life for you to be able to do something. If you are going to do something, don't wait, start making changes now. Even though you don't know it, you already have enough power and ability to make the change you want to have.

The most common way to give up your power is to think you have no power at all.