A chance is worth a thousand plans

A valuable Arabic proverb: “A Chance is worth a thousand plans“ interrprets to “a coincidence might be better than a thousand of appointments. In other words, hundreds of essential inventions were created because of a mere coincidence. Newton discovered Gravity accidently when he saw a falling apple. Back in 1956, Wilson Greatbatch, an engineer, was simply working on a device to record the rhythm of a human heartbeat, that later was turned into a pacemaker.
What alters a mere coincidence into a great opportunity is being prepared for seizing them when they come your way. Here is a true story of a young female immigrant who knew how to significantly increase the likelihood of becoming successful when she got the opportunity.
One sunny day, an old woman with gray hair was waiting in despair for the bus to arrive. She looked warmly at the younger woman, next to her, with a mobile in her hand checking the bus schedules.
“Is the bus out of service.” She said, trying to kill the time. The younger woman involuntary replied,” Inshallah the bus will arrive in 7 minutes. That’s updated on the website”
The older woman said, “Your accent is probably from the Middle East. Aren’t you!?” The younger women replied:” Oh yes, I am new to Canada, I am a Bachelor of Science. I used to teach Biology to high school students for more than 5 years. I am passionate about my job and fond of supporting students to improve their academic performance in class and through extracurricular activities. Currently I am looking for a job in teaching.” The old woman’s eyes were wide open; and with a big smile she opened her purse, pulled out a card asking the women to call Andria Markram. He was her nephew who just opened a tutoring center; and desperately looking for tutors.

Just as simple as that, opportunities might knock at your door unexpectedly. The younger woman told her story briefly in less than 2 minutes. In the business world, her small talk is called the elevator pitch. It is called elevator pitch as it might happen in an elevator. You can imagine how fast it is to descend from the 10th floor to ground zero. How long would it take? Probably 30 seconds or less. The real challenge is to be able to briefly introduce yourself, mention key points and connect with someone while riding the elevator. The young woman in the story mentioned her profession, education, passion, experience and what she wanted.
This story reveals that knowing what to say to the right people can make miracles happen in no time. And when they happen, you’d better be prepared, ready to hit the ground running, grab the opportunity and be thankful. Open your arms wide to embrace great coincidences, keep your networking afresh and never be intimidated to approach people and lastly know how to brand yourself in a minute or less.