Life’s full of various challenges and opportunities in life, but sometimes it’s hard to figure out whether they’re worth taking on.
We’ve all been there – torn between taking a leap or staying in our comfort zone. Challenges give us the chance to improve, while opportunities help our dreams come true or send us down new paths.
When we take the time to analyze challenges and opportunities, we’re finally able to uncover what’s best for us, both personally and professionally.
Consider Your Weaknesses
It might not seem like the best first step, but it’s better to get the scariest part out of the way first, right? Besides, we get to all the good stuff after this step, so stick it out, it’s worth it.
Weaknesses aren’t bad things. They’re just a part of who we are. For instance, a person who’s only 4’10” might consider their height a weakness, but it’s just who they are.
When it comes to challenges, we need to consider our weaknesses. Challenges give us the chance to overcome a weakness or even improve upon a strength, but if an opportunity requires the absolute best of us, a weakness might mean the opportunity isn’t exactly right for us, at least not at that time.
Think About Your Strengths
See, now it’s on to the more positive part of the analysis. Opportunities that play to our strengths are a no-brainer. Of course, every new opportunity has its own unique set of challenges. If a challenge give us the chance to improve our strengths or even discover new strengths, it’s worth the risk.
If an opportunity doesn’t offer any room for improvement, growth or even increased happiness in life, it might not be worth it. After all, we don’t want to open new doors that only take us back a few steps in life.
Try A SWOT Analysis
A quick way to analyze challenges and opportunities is via a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. It’s an analysis method that’s often used to determine if a professional opportunity is a good idea or not. Business may even use it to determine whether to hire a new employee.
We recommend this for more in-depth analysis. Don’t worry, it’s not just for professional reasons. We all have personal opportunities and challenges to analyze sometimes. The best thing about a SWOT analysis is it makes us break down those big decisions into tiny bite size chunks.
Analyze Past Experiences
We might not always like looking into the past, such as those high school fashions when we’re in our 40s. Still, the past gives us an endless source of examples of what does and doesn’t work for us. For instance, if we always fail when we try out extreme challenges, maybe it’s time to try something a little closer to our strengths and gradually branch out.
Take some time to jot down relevant past experiences and see how they affect the current situation. We always have something to learn from what we did in our pasts.
Look At The Costs
This doesn’t always mean financial costs either. When we analyze challenges and opportunities, we also have to think about the personal and professional costs. For instance, let’s say you want to branch out from working at a design agency to working on your own. Making the choice to leave is filled with challenges, such as earning study income, marketing yourself and choosing where to work from.
At the same time, it’s a great opportunity to achieve your dream. The only problem is, when and how do you make the choice to go out on your own?
This is when we look at first how a challenge or opportunity affects us personally. What are the emotional costs? How does it affect family and friends? Next, how does it affect a career? Is it a great move or not? Finally, what are the financial costs? If we look back at the freelance designer, financial costs are a major factor.
Opportunity costs occur when we don’t take on an opportunity or challenge. Think about both the losses and the gains and the choice will be much clearer.
To Jump Or Not To Jump
It doesn’t matter what the challenge or opportunity might be, it pays to analyze it to see if it’s the right thing to do. Before taking a leap or shutting the door, give yourself time to think. That thinking time could change your life forever. That definitely makes it worth it!
Image: Juan Jose, Keit Trysh, Aaron Burden