In this day and age, we all are met with information overload and myriads of opportunities that present themselves to us on an everyday basis. But how can you differentiate and filter the right opportunities for yourself? How do you see which opportunities have more potential, and can benefit your thinking, lifestyle, and careers? This thinking process is critical at any age and any stage of our lives.

The action to take is quite simple: invest your time in the opportunities and do not limit yourself.

Invest your time to analyze the opportunities and their positive potential and risks, compare pros and cons. Investing your time to learning deeper about the situation and understanding the options helps to formulate your persona and preferences.

As a start, listen to your instinct and push yourself more to unleash your true potential. You can build your brand and your unique path by partaking in more experiences. Challenge yourself to think more out of the box, becoming a change engine or being part of the change.

It is important to note that you see yourself as the key player, know what you want, know your drive, your finances, and value your own potential. If you believe that you are capable, then engage. Speak to people, explore and formulate your opinion and understand the opportunity in hand. Do not turn down offers without deep analysis and only because you feel like you are “wasting your time”, and that nothing will come out of it. The Harvard Business Review writes that, “Failure can also act as a marker for future success.” Ultimately, it is not about the failure, but instead about how you survive and come back from it.

Another key component of this thinking process is to change your attitude and how you express yourself. Do not minimize your role, do not say that you are “just volunteering” and that these experiences are “beneath you” or you are “doing someone a favor”. This is what causes personal brand damage. People brand you on your own words first and how you present yourself. When you always come across in the most positive manner and use affirmative language to describe your position and your experiences, your brand evolves around that image.

I always advise people is that they do not look for authority, but instead look for building an influence. You never know which one of these experiences that you partake can lead to more influence and open doors, lead to even better opportunities and more sophisticated network of people.

Since knowledge comes through experience, missing or shying away from an opportunity is a lost experience. Take Steve Jobs for example. Early in his career he chose to travel and gain experience in the real world which then led him to found Apple, one of the most successful companies in the world today. He also shared his famous saying: “You do not fail. You learn.”