We may come across many different invitations by others for different activities such as collaboration of talks, seminars, sharing sessions, and etc.
These invitations may seem to be an opportunity for us to increase our visibility in the market. Whenever we are getting noticed by others, we may receive a lot of invitations from others.
All these events from the others may look tempting, and all of it may seem to have brought certain prospects or benefits to us. However, problems may arise if we are facing scarce resources, i.e. our "TIME".
We may not have enough time to attend all these events.
We may not have enough energy to commit to these schedules.
As a result, we have to make a decision on whether to attend or commit to such events that may seem to be an opportunity.
Yes, even though it may seem to be an "opportunity" to us, we have to leverage it as an "income producing activity" (IPA) for us. All these invitations may be IPA or an IRA - Income "reducing" activity.
I will suggest some points that we can ask ourselves while we are handling this dilemma.
1. Our "Focus"
Does the objective of this event remain in tact with our goal? Are we attending some event that is related to our nature of business? Sometimes, certain events may seem to be relevant for our industry, but it may not necessarily be really in tact with our business goals. We have to ask ourselves, "will my attendance to this event supplement my goals?" If the answer is affirmative, then we will move on to the next question.
2. How will my presence make a difference to the people attending?
Will our presence make a difference to the people there? Are we able to create an impact on the people in the said event? It is always about making a difference to the others that have spent their time with us. This point is very important to be considered as we do not want to be a person to be called as a "free rider" of the event. Our presence should always act in such a way that we are ready to GIVE to others, or create VALUE to others, so that our presence will always be welcomed. The place we went should always be the place better than before we have attended. 3. WIIFM The last question is "What is in for me?" - W.I.I.F.M. Are we getting anything out of it? What will be the value created for us? Whenever we are spending other time for others, what is the gain for us? What are we getting out of it? It has to be a 2 way thing. It is always ok to get something out of it. It is always OK to gain! Our time is valuable as well. Someone has to get paid, someone has to pay for the time and effort that we have spent! So what is the thing that we can get out of it?
In a nutshell, if we were given an invitation, those questions above are some of the tips for us to consider whether that activity before us, is an IPA, or it may just be an IRA in disguise as an IPA. It is always OK to say NO, if it is not the thing for us after we have made serious consideration. We do not want to feel sorry for ourselves after we have realised that we have spent our time on something which is not valuable to us.
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