Creating a Legacy – Pursuing the Opportunities That are RIGHT for YOU
“It's through curiosity and looking at opportunities in new ways that we map our path.”
As titleholders, we search every day for opportunities to be a voice and an advocate for our platforms and the messages that we’re so passionate about and want to share with the world around us. Unfortunately, many opportunities are missed because we either don’t recognize them, or we’re pursuing the wrongs ones. The key to being a titleholder who creates a legacy that makes an impact for years to come long after we’re gone is pursuing opportunities that are “right” for us. So, how do YOU go about pursuing the opportunities that are right for YOU as a titleholder? Here are a few basic steps to follow.
The first step to pursuing the opportunities that are right for YOU is to 1) clearly define your vision for the legacy that you want to create and the message you want to share with the world around you, and 2) understand “why” your legacy and your message is so important to you and to others. Without a clear understanding of your legacy, your message, and the “why” behind it, it’s more difficult to visualize and map out a path that’ll help you create that legacy, which, ultimately, includes the opportunities you need to pursue in order to achieve it.
The second step to pursuing the opportunities that are right for YOU is to recognize your unique gifts, abilities, experiences, and passions, and then embrace the idea that opportunities are going to be unique to each of us in accordance to those gifts, abilities, experiences, and passions. It’s not about doing what other titleholders are doing, and it’s not about comparing your opportunities to the opportunities of others. The simple truth is, some of us will have opportunities that others don’t, so instead of focusing on the opportunities that are unique to others, focus on the opportunities that are unique to you.
The third step to pursuing the opportunities that are right for YOU is to discern the opportunities that are most appropriate and most effective in accordance to your legacy, your message, your why, and your unique gifts, abilities, experiences, and passions. Not every opportunity is meant to be pursued. If it doesn’t in some way help you create that legacy you want to leave behind, if it doesn’t enhance the message you want to share, and if it doesn’t align with your unique gifts, abilities, experiences, and passions, you might want to reconsider pursuing that opportunity. And, if there are opportunities that you’re already pursuing that you’re now recognizing don’t make sense for you, it’s okay to step away from those opportunities.
The fourth step to pursuing the opportunities that are right for YOU is to understand that opportunities are going to present themselves in many forms. Some opportunities are going to be easier to recognize and are going to plop themselves in your lap with little to no effort of your own, while other opportunities are going to require more creativity and a shift in perspective to recognize and may even require more of your time and energy to cultivate. Don’t shy away from an opportunity just because it wasn’t what you originally envisioned for yourself, or because it requires a little more work on your end. Just because an opportunity is “different” than what you had in mind and/or requires effort to cultivate, doesn’t mean that it’s not right for you. Thomas A. Edison reminds us that “most people miss Opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Don’t be one of those people.
The fifth step to pursuing the opportunities that are right for YOU is to pursue them with 100% effort. Your time is both valuable and limited. Therefore, whatever opportunities you choose to pursue with your time, make the most out of them. Put 100% effort into them. Otherwise, don’t pursue them.
As Mrs. International 2020, I pursue opportunities related primarily to Infertility, Adoption, and ultimately, FOSTER CARE that are right for me (photo provided for each) and can help me build on my legacy and the impact I’m trying to make. As YOU continue your journey as a titleholder, my hope is that you too can pursue the opportunities that are right for YOU in order to build on the legacy that you’ve already started to create and on the impact that you’ll hopefully continue to make in the lives of others for years to come.
Ashley Rae Klinger
Mrs. International 2020
The Need is Great - Make an Impact - BE A FOSTER
"Encouraging families to make an impact in the life of a child and be a foster."
Comments
Post a Comment