We often hear that someone landed an opportunity by being in the right place at the right time. They weren’t there just by chance.
Smart people put themselves in the right places all the time in hopes of finding opportunity. They do that because, while it may be hard to know when the time is right, we can make educated guesses about which places are right.
Once, when the American Society of News Editors was holding its annual convention in Washington, D.C., I decided to visit my son there for a few evenings and to spend my days at the hotel where the convention was.
I am not a member of the group and likely would not have been approved for membership because I was not a top editor at my newspaper. But I knew people in the group and figured something good would come of being at the convention hotel.
One of my bosses encountered me there and gave me a surprised greeting. I told him not to worry, that I was there on my own time and expense. Still, it seemed to startle him that I was among so many of his colleagues and seemed to know some of them.
And sure enough, a couple of editors who were at the convention suggested I work on small projects with them. I had no idea about the timing, but I was in the right place when they were looking for help.
Sometimes, being in the right place at the right time is more figurative than literal. A certain job candidate used to write to me frequently and always seemed to have a note or a letter on my desktop. Sure enough, when someone at another newsroom called looking for just this sort of candidate, I spotted one of his letters and passed his name along. His letter was in the right place — where it could be seen on a desk and not hidden in a file — and the time turned right.
If you want to be in the right place at the right time, visit the right places frequently and don’t be worried about the timing. Sooner or later, that will be right, too.
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