THE OFFBIT OPPORTUNITIES

In A Bid To Open Our Eyes To Something Most Of Us Must Have Been Doing
Wrong That Has Kept Us From Moving To Where We Are Suppose To Be, I
Have Come Up With This Article To Expose An Area Where We Must Have
Failed In The Past. So We Could Start Making Corrections.

Firstly, What Is An OFFBIT OPPORTUNITY?

An Offbit Opportunity Is What I Define As The Opportunity That Is
Quite Different From Your Area Of Specialization, Profession, And
Expectation. That In The End Ports You To Where You Expect To Be.

Now Let Me Give An Example... I Had This Friend Of Mine Who Studied
Medicine... But After Graduating, He Couldn't Get Himself A Place To
Practice. So One Day While He Was In Town Trying To Find Something To
Do, He Noticed A Man Whose Car Had Disappointed Him. Upon Getting
Closer, He Enquired From The Man What The Problem Is, And From What
The Man Said, He Quickly Understood What The Problem Is, And Then
Asked If The Man Has The Neccessary Tools He Would Need To Help, Which
The Man Quickly Got Out. In A Few Minutes The Engine Roared Back To
Life.

In Appreciation The Man Asked, "How Much Is My Bill? And The Guy
Responded "Don't Worry Sir," Amazed! The Man Continued "Isn't This
What You Do For A Living?" And The Guy Said "NO" I Am A Graduate Of
Medicine, And I Was Just On My Seeking For Something To Get Busy
With."

The Man Still Standing And Looking Amazed... He Continued "So How Did
You Come To Know About Car Engines?" And The Young Man Replied "I Live
Close To A Mechanic Village, And I Spent Most Of My Leisure Hanging
Around There, And From There I Learnt Alot." Upon Hearing All That,
The Man Gave Him His Business Card, And Handed Him Some Money. And
Then Told Him To Report At His Office The Next Day. And That Was How
My Friend Got Recommended With An Instant Employment To Practice At
The General Hospital. And Today He Is A Certified Doctor Living Large.

Now Back To The Topic "THE OFFBIT OPPORTUNITY." Lets Say That Guy
Never Took His Time To Learn Something Else Besides Just Being A
Graduate Of Medicine. Do You Think He Would Be Of Useful Help To That
Man Who In Turn Rewarded His Kindness And Effort? I Leave That To You
To Answer.

The Truth Is Many Of Us Have Found Ourselves Having The Opportunity To
Learn A Thing Or Two That Would Have Landed Us An OFFBIT OPPORTUNITY,
But Out Of Pride, Ignorance And Negligence, We Push Such Opportunities
Away. Only For Some Similar OFFBIT OPPORTUNITY To Come Up, And We
Start Wishing We Had Learnt Something Different.

You May Be Thinking Of Becoming A Lawyer, Accountant, Banker E.t.c.
But That Shouldn't Stop You From Engaging In Other Artisan Jobs...
Because You Never Can Tell The Opportunity That Would Lead You To
GREATNESS.

AVOIDING THE FIRST DATE DISASTER

Picture This, You Have A Great Chemistry From The Stroke Of Your
Keyboard. You Have Fun Emailing And Sending Instant Messages To Each
Other. He Thinks You're A Knockout. You Think He's Charming. He Seems
Interested In Everything You Are Doing. You Spend An Hour Every Nigh
Chatting Online And Get Several Text Messages During The Day. Are You
In A Relationship? No, Not Really.

Let's Look At Some Ways To Prevent Your First Date From Ending Up A
Dating Disaster.

1¤ TRUST YOUR INTUITION:

Don't Accept A Date When The Phone Conversation Doesn't Feel Right. If
You Don't Have Any Phone Chemistry At All, Or Find Yourself In An
Argument With Your Date Before You Even Meet Them, Don't Schedule A
Date. You Don't Need A Free Meal Or Coffee. If You Put A Date On The
Calendar, Don't Feel Badly About Canceling. Why Waste Each Other's
Time?

Here's An Example Of A First Date Just Ended Up Badly. The Couple's
First Phone Conversation Didn't Go Well. They Had Spent Two Weeks
Building Up A Rapport Of Fantastic Chemistry Through Instant
Messaging. By The Time They Got To The Phone, They Thought They Were
Already A Couple. However, He Didn't Take Time To Listen On The Phone.
He Kept Interrupting Her And Even Started An Argument With Her About
How To Manage Her Career. She Should Have Ended The Conversation With,
"I Don't Think This Relationship Is Right For Me. Good Luck With Your
Search." She Couldn't Get Off The Phone Fast Enough, But Did Not
Cancel Their Upcoming First Date. She Wanted To Give Him The Benefit
Of The Doubt.

Your Intuition Is Very Powerful. You Should Trust. She Ended Up
Meeting Him For Sushi From The Beginning Of The Date Until It Was
Over, He Continued To Argue With Her. She Didn't Like To Eat eel. He
Said That Was Ridiculous. She Ordered Hot Sake. He Insisted That Cold
Sake Was Better. She Wondered Why She Subjected Herself To This Type
Of Communication. If She Trusted Her Intuition From The Initial Phone
Call, She Would Have Realized The Conversation Would Continue In The
Same Light.

2¤ TAKE YOUR DATE FROM ONLINE TO OFFLINE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE:

In This Case, The Couple Had Great "Instant Message" Chemistry And
Emailed And Text Messaged Each Other Frequently. Since They Had
Communicated Mostly Online, They Ended Up With A False Illusion That
They Were In A Relationship. They Got Attached. They Were Not In A
Relationship. They Were Talking To A Computer With A Photo, That's
All. After Several Emails Back-And-Forth, It Was Time For Them To Talk
On The Phone And Move The Relationship Along. The Couple Waited Almost
Three Weeks Before Ever Hearing Each Other's Voices. This Dating
Disaster Could Have Been Prevented Before They Became Too Emotionally
Attached Online.

3¤ NEVER TEXT MESSAGE OTHERS WHILE ON A DATE:

Unless You Want Your Date To End Badly, Keep Your BlackBerry Or iPhone
Off The Table. It's Not An Accessory. It's Rude And Sends A Message
That You Are More Interested In Something Other Than Your Date. Leave
Your Smart Phone In Your Purse Or Wallet. Your Date Deserves Your
Undivided Attention. In This Case, Both Of Them Started To Text
Friends During The Date. It Was An Immediate Turn-Off.

4¤ ALWAYS MEET YOUR DATE IN A PUBLIC PLACE AND DON'T DRIVE TOGETHER:

Remember, Safety First. The Gentleman Suggested Picking Up His Date At
Her Home To Drive 45minutes To One Of His Favourite Restaurants. He
Said He Wanted To Go On A "Real Date." She Knew Better Enough To Say
No To This Request. Always Meet Your Date In A Public Place And Don't
End Up In A Car With Someone You Don't Know On A First Date. In This
Case, She Might Have Ended Up On A Street Corner Alone, Looking For A
Cab Back Home. Better Safe, Than Sorry.

5¤ DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND STUDY FOR THE QUIZ:

Online Dating Is A Numbers Game. However, The More Organized You Are,
The More Successful Your Date Will Be. In This Case, Her Date Thought
She Had Never Been Married And Didn't Remember What She Did For A
Living. If You Are On A Date, Make It Personal And Keep It Light. Take
The Time To Remember Something Your Date Wrote In Their Profile Or
Said On The Phone. Think Of Preparing For Your Date Like You Would For
A Job Interview For Your Dream Job. Would Know The Name Of The Parent
Company You Are Interviewing With? Would You Know The Name Of The CEO
Or City Of Their Headquarters? Would You Recognize Their Company Logo?

Add It All Up, And It Was A Recipe For Disaster Before They Even
Arrived At The Sushi Bar. It Was Destined To Be A Bad Date.

Before You Go On Your Next "First" Date, Make Sure You Are Looking
Forward To It, Do Your Homework, Ask Questions About The Other Person,
Take Time To Listen, And Perhaps You'll Make A New Friend, Even If You
Don't End Up Meeting "The One."