The Importance of Being Early and Thinking One Step Ahead - Think Deep

The Importance of Being Early and Thinking One Step Ahead

When I talk about being early in the context of this article, I’m not talking about punctuality. I’m talking more in terms of ideas and directions you take in life.

We all have “the story”.

We have an idea. It’s brilliant. One of a kind. A sure thing.

And we put it on the backburner.

Months later, we see it come to fruition in reality and find out somebody made millions off of it.

Then, everybody hops on board and milks the trend the idea was based upon for all its worth.

By the time the trend dies down and other people jump on board, it’s too late for them. There’s nothing left. All the “juice” has been squeezed out.

It’s really easy to see why being early here is so important. In terms of a business context, you can grab a majority of the market share, occupy the minds of most people and yield considerable influence as an expert (one of the biggest rules in marketing is to be the first).

Now that’s in terms of a business sense, but you can just as easily apply it in the context of the job market.

Let’s say you got in early on computer science, right when it was getting hot. You accrued experience, sharpened your skills, knew how to pretty much do it all.

Now, once the field starts to get hot, tons of people start entering it because it’s in high demand and yields high pay. The competition becomes fierce, wages fall because there is a lot of supply out there, but people will still pay top dollar for the person who got in EARLY – who now has the experience, the know how, the skills – who can apply all that RIGHT NOW as opposed to someone just breaking in.

So it’s really easy to see why being early pays off.

BUT, it’s not good enough just to be early.

You have to start thinking ONE STEP AHEAD.

Sooner or later, all the advantages you experienced by being early will soon diminish.

Outsourcing, technological advances, global events can play a hand in some way shape or form that might strip you of all the benefits you had of being early.

So you have to stay one step ahead of the game.

One way to do that would be to make sure you develop cross transferable skills that you can readily apply in any industry – management, sales, technology, human relations, etc.

You have to think one step ahead in terms of what you will do if what you’re currently doing doesn’t last forever, which it probably won’t.

Fortune favors the bold – those who seize the opportunities when they present themselves so they can get in early and see what steps they need to take when the majority are just “waking up” and start coming aboard for the ride.

It’s like trading stocks.

By the time the public gets advice on which stock to put their money in, it’s too late.

The real people will make all the gains are those who got in early, who were privy to certain types of information about the company and by the time the money of the masses come pouring in and increases the price of the stock, those who got in early will be one step ahead and cash out, leaving those who just got in with at the best, with minimal gains, and for the rest, big losses.

It pays to get in early in so many ways, not just financially.

And it ALWAYS pays to think one step ahead because all the benefits you enjoyed from being early will soon fade.

Having that game plan of being one step ahead will help you get in early on whatever direction you choose to engage in next, so you enjoy the benefits of being early once again and then you think one step ahead and the cycle then engages in your favor, making your life a whole lot easier.

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