Be ready to ride the wave

Ask what you'd do if things went really right

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to be ready to ride the wave. If
something big and good is happening in your life, take

(00:25):
a little time to position yourself to be able to
seize the opportunity. That way, your hard work you've been
doing will pay off over the long term. Today's tip,
like some others this week, comes from my book One
hundred and sixty eight Hours. That book was first published
in late May of twenty ten, which means that it

(00:47):
is fifteen years old this month. A lot has changed
in the world since then, but we do, in fact
still have one hundred sixty eight hours in a week,
and so I am re visiting some of the tips
from that book that I think can still be helpful.
Today's tip is a career one on being ready to

(01:08):
ride the wave. I have long been fascinated by the
concept of one hit wonders. Some people get really lucky
with something in life and then they just sort of disappear.
Some people, on the other hand, get a big break
and then manage to keep going afterwards, building a long

(01:29):
and sustainable career. A lot of that comes down to
being ready to ride the wave. We can't necessarily control
what waves come our way, but we can be prepared
to take advantage of what luck does happen. I think
a lot of that is taking a little bit of
time to think strategically. Sometimes we ask ourselves what would

(01:53):
happen if things went wrong? That is a smart question
to ask, but I think it is also wise to
ask ourselves what we would do if things went really right.
For instance, what if the head of your organization popped
into your office and announced that she has heard your
team is doing amazing things. She wants to double your

(02:13):
budget or triplet quadruplet. Do you know how you would
make the most of these extra resources. Or maybe you
work for a nonprofit that is used to operating on
a shoe string. What would you do if a funder
offered you more than your current annual budget, no strings attached.
Do you know how you would make the most of

(02:35):
that opportunity. Maybe you operate a small company that sells
goods online. All of a sudden, some major influencer like
I don't know Oprah mentions your product. Now, what are
you prepared to make the most of the extra attention.
What if a short video you make goes viral and

(02:57):
you now have millions of people following you. What are
you going to do to keep that audience or use
it to launch your next thing. Luck is somewhat random,
but what people do with that luck is not. So
carve out some time to think about what you would

(03:17):
do if you suddenly had a lot more resources or attention.
Think about what projects you would like to try if
someone gave you the support you'd need to do it.
What people would you tap to help you? What would
success look like. Now we don't know exactly what stroke
of luck might visit, so you might want to think
through various different scenarios, and you might have a few

(03:40):
ideas that can work in any situation. For instance, it
helps to have a way to capture people's email addresses.
It helps to have more content to put out there.
It helps to always have things in progress, so when
a past work gets attention, you have something new to

(04:00):
put out there soon afterwards. But there is no reason
not to think about these things. I also think that
being ready to ride the wave will in some ways
make a good wave more likely. After all, when we
are ready for opportunity. We start to look for opportunity,

(04:21):
we follow a thread, we ask questions we might meet
with that extra person, and then sometimes amazing things start
to follow. So ask what you would do if things
went incredibly well, because maybe they will, and then you
will be ready to ride the wave. In the meantime,

(04:47):
this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

(05:15):
is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.