MAKE ROOM FOR THE UNEXPECTED

This year, our greatest opportunities may be the ones we were never looking for.

- JASON FEIFER

When you narrow your path, you limit your chances of finding what will make you happiest.

That's something I've learned personally-and witnessed happening to others-throughout my career. As we look ahead at the rest of the year and set new goals, it's a lesson worth reflecting on.

We must make room for the unexpected. We must set goals but be completely comfortable abandoning them. We must accept that the greatest opportunities may be the ones we weren't looking for, and maybe didn't even know existed.

I'll give you an example: This is the story of “Tom," a real friend whose name I'm changing.

Tom always wanted to work at one specific company. He set this goal at the beginning of his career because that company was full of widely recognized talented people, and it produced products he thought were genius. Joining that tribe became his definition of success. Every job he took was strategically selected to one day appeal to his dream job. He followed the company religiously; he got to know people who worked there.