Half the battle is being aware of the season that you’re in. Are you looking for a new opportunity or are you making the most of the current opportunity?

James Clear describes the difference between the two like this:

"The strategy required to find a great opportunity (lots of saying yes and exploring widely) is different from the strategy required to make the most of a great opportunity (lots of saying no and remaining focused)."

I recently heard Derek Sivers talk about Explorers vs Leaders and his theory ties in well with the James Clear quote.

Explorers are out there to follow every potential path. They’ll balance their intuition with the terrain around them to discover new places. Explorers are horrible to follow because they don’t know where they’re going in the short term. 

Leaders, on the other hand, are there to make the most of the new opportunities that the Explorers have discovered. The Explorer discovers a bay for a harbour and the Leader comes in to build the port city. Leaders are easy to follow because they have a plan and know where they’re going.

There are times when we need to shift between these two roles in our life - exploring to find new opportunities and then settling in to focus on making the most of the great opportunity we discover.

This concept resonates with me as I begin to shift into exploration mode. I’ve spent the last 15 years focused on making the most of an opportunity and now I’m learning how to explore to discover a new opportunity. It’s a different set of skills and a different mindset that I’m looking forward to growing in.