I have been known, on occasion to take on quite a lot of responsibility. It's not that I'm gluten for punishment or anything so dramatic as that. I just want to help out others when they are in need of assistance. The other motivation behind my near overextension is that I do not want to pass up a good opportunity when it comes my way.
The way I figure it; we can always learn something new or get better at what we are already good at. Practice does make your abilities sharper and more refined. In my case, I always jump at the opportunity to write an article especially if it involves conducting an interview. I had agreed to write an article for NV New Visions in Business Magazine, who I had written for numerous times in the past. Over, the weekend, I interviewed the last subject for my feature article. I had conducted an extensive and extremely pleasant interview with one of the subjects for the piece almost two weeks earlier. My editor came to me and asked for a favor. She was not going to be able to conduct the interview for the cover piece and wondered if I could handle it. I agreed and also took the time to interview the subject for our cover story the same day as the aforementioned interview.
I finally finished writing and rewriting the 2, 000 word feature on Halloween of all days. The piece was due to my editor on November 1st, so I made it just in time. I was relieved to get it done because I felt worn out. I was looking forward to a break, when another opportunity presented itself. I got asked to write another piece for the local arts & entertainment publication, Ticket. I really enjoy writing for Ticket, but with the turnaround time for the article, I had to start working on it right away. I'm trying to schedule the interviews for tomorrow and will hopefully compose the piece by the middle of next week. It's officially due on November 10th.
So, what have we learned? Every chance you get offered is definitely worth considering. Even if you're already an ace at something, you can always get better. Besides, you never know whom you'll end up meeting as a result of taking the extra initiative. Networking can happen when you least expect it.