How to Handle Missed Opportunities

“The key to abundance is meeting limited circumstances with unlimited thoughts.”
               Marianne Williamson

     You found your job. The director who was in it up until last month has decided to take another role, which has led to the opening. This is the opportunity you have been waiting for and you have no doubt you should get the job. You apply for the job and as expected are granted an interview. You prepare for the interview long and hard. On the day of the interview you walk in standing tall ready to tell them why you deserve the role. You have been basically doing the job for months. You have the education. You have the charisma. You can’t see anyone else getting this job over you. With all of your confidence you do an exceptionally well job in the interview. You walk out feeling like you have your job. Yet two weeks later you get the courtesy call letting you know they have gone with someone else. You are in utter disbelief until the announcement is made on who did get the job. You immediately feel as though you were done wrong because the person they hired looks different than you. You think that’s why you weren’t hired because you don’t look like them and they stick together. If that’s not the case the person is much younger than you. You think that’s why you weren’t hired because they found a young person who they knew they could pay less than you. If that’s not the case the person was a different gender than you. You think that’s why you weren’t hired because they had no plans of hiring someone of your gender in the first place. If that’s not the case the person was a friend of the hiring manager. You think it didn’t matter how qualified you were they were going to hire the friend anyway. Whichever of these circumstances you believe fits the result is still the same. You didn’t get the job. How you react to this limited circumstance will determine if you have an abundant mindset or one of scarcity. You will always get better results coming from a place of abundance. 

Seek Counsel for Justice 

     After getting this devastating news you have a choice. You can choose to focus on the reason you feel you did not get that job or you can focus on what steps you will take moving forward. Yes, you are human and will feel that an injustice has been done. However, if no laws have been broken you will have a very tough time getting the justice you strongly believe you deserve. A hiring manager can hire a qualified candidate and many people are qualified for jobs. However workplace discrimination is against the law and if you have a strong case by all means seek justice. If there is a clear pattern of discrimination based on race, age, gender, orientation, physical ability or any other aspect go speak to a lawyer for professional guidance. Laws were put into place to protect individuals and we should all exercise our rights to enforce them. The only caution is to make sure a professional sees it the same way. You may be too close to the situation and too emotionally involved to see the true legal merit of the case. If you have legal merit do what is right and seek your justice. You deserve it. If there isn’t any legal merit you must let it go. You need to move on and continue working on your next opportunity to succeed. If choose not to you are most likely coming from a place of scarcity. 

Scarcity vs. Abundance 

     When you come from a place of scarcity you can’t stop thinking about how that was the right job for you. You think about how long you’ve been waiting for that opportunity to come along. You think that now it’s gone and there won’t be another for years. You think about the fact that you are getting older every day and chances are you won’t get many more opportunities in your lifetime. You start to think that you’ve wasted all of your previous efforts because you did all of that work and this is the thanks that you get. You think that they will never hire you for that job so you might as well just get used to being right where you are at because that is the best you will ever do. You don’t even think about leaving because you have invested so much time into this company you would be crazy to leave. You begin to think that this is how they see you and they will never see you as anything else. You are pissed and you hate it. You know that this is not fair. You wonder why do you have to deal with this. You wonder why do they (different race, age, gender, cliques) get all the perks? What did you do to deserve this? That is how you think when you come from a place of scarcity.

     When you come from a place of abundance you are still not happy that you didn’t get the job. You are not angry either. You understand that life comes with problems. Everything will not always go your way. That is a fact and no matter who you are nothing has always gone your way. With that said you should also know there are more opportunities out there. Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t yours no matter how much you wanted it. Knowing that there are more opportunities out there you can now start to look inward to decide what actions you are going to take to meet those opportunities as they present themselves. You are not taking fault for someone else’s decision you are taking action on what you can control and that is you. Not getting that job makes you stronger because you will look for more ways to make it happen in the future. You will increase your networking. You will increase you education. You will increase your performance. You will focus in on your habits to make sure they are getting you the results you desire. You will take time to reflect on your goals, your plans and your actions. There are unlimited actions you can take to get 1% better than you are today. That 1% will be the difference that will lead to the uncovering and acquisition of the next opportunity. You don’t have time to waste on something you cannot control. Your time is precious because you know there are plenty of opportunities out there and it is up to you to discover them. 

What You Think Matters

     In reality to come from a place of abundance takes discipline. Unfortunately, many of us cling to the negative aspects of life because we believe by focusing on them we are protecting ourselves. When that protection gets overused we miss out on so many opportunities. As has been stated in many of these writings what you think matters. You thoughts will ultimately create our reality. If you continue to think from a place of scarcity you will create that place. You will be frustrated and think that your next opportunity won’t come for years. Low and behold that opportunity will not come up for several years. You will be stuck in your current role. You will think that they just don’t see your talent. As you continue to think that they will comply and will see you as someone who has reached his/her potential in the current role. Conversely when think from a place of abundance, you too will create your own reality. You will think that new opportunities are always going to surface. Just as you thought, new opportunities will present themselves. You will think that all you need to do is to continue to improve and things will get better. You will consistently improve yourself 1% at a time. As you continue to stack up numerous 1% improvements you will be better prepared to acquire any new opportunity that does present itself. By thinking abundantly you will be better positioned to take control over what you can control and that is you. You control your thoughts. Therefore, you control your success. This is your reminder to make sure your thoughts are coming from a place of abundance so that you are ready for that next glorious opportunity coming your way. As always I wish you the best and remind you to enjoy the journey.

With Gratitude,

Drew