Some doors open.

Some doors close.

You may have zero effect on why some doors closed.

It may be just a matter of timing.

Some situation change at the other end might have shifted the priorities.

There might have been a change of heart.

Who knows?

However, for a new door to open, there is a good chance that you had to do something – at least being present to that opportunity. Or, it might be an outcome as a side effect of some past work or contribution or a favor. In a minority of cases, it might have been luck acting in your favor too.

Let’s see.

In the first case with zero involvement from you, a door might close. In the second case, there is an incremental effort involved. It is logical to see that if the incremental effort in the second case is higher, the chances of a positive outcome is naturally higher.

So, the point is that if you use up a lot of your time, energy and mindshare to focus on the door that closed, you are robbing yourself of capitalizing on the potential new door that opened.

It would help if your focus on the closed door is limited to the learning (if any) that comes from the door that closed and shift your entire focus on the door(s) that opened or about to open.

Image: Napkinsight #94