Timing is and isn’t everything

People talk about perfect timing, but I think everything is perfect in its moment; you just want to capture that — Eddie Huang

Timing is a variable with which you will always have to contend.

It’s true, timing is indeed everything in a sense.

Without great timing, you’re not going to be able to execute.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a business like us trying to find that next great mobile app to build for another company or perhaps, on a more personal level, someone looking for their soul mate. At the end of the day, you need timing on your side if you’re going to be able to execute.

Timing is and isn’t everything.

The reality is, opportunities fall into our laps every single day.

Timing is always available to us.

Of course, some opportunities, some challenges, they’ll present themselves to be bigger or smaller in the long run. Most of them, we let them slip by, without truly thinking what we said yes or no to.

The key thing to understand though is that when the timing is on your side, you also need to act.

Timing is constant in this formula. Your will and need to act, to capture, to execute, that is the uncontrollable variable. If you have timing and the execution happening at once, you’ll more likely than not succeed.

Why is this an important concept to notice?

The reality is, all of us, even myself, let opportunities slip up all of the time or worse, underutilize an opportunity that is clearly presented in front of us that we’re able to digest.

Here’s a real example.

We have had two incredible guest on our podcast, #thePawdcast in recent weeks. One was Tom Kuhn of Google, another was Christie Pitts of Verizon Ventures (which, I highly recommend that you listen to both amazing episodes if you haven’t already).

I had the great fortunes of connecting with them both at the Startup Grind global conference back in February. Christie, by the good fortune of us both getting in line to the event at the same time and just talking to one another. Tom, by standing next to the volunteers booth, happening to strike up a conversation after overhearing each other’s conversations.

Of course, that is the timing aspect of this formula in play. The constant. Without timing, execution can’t happen. Here is where most fail to act.

Most wouldn’t strike up that conversation, wouldn’t build that friendship, wouldn’t try to learn about that other person and see how you can provide value. They fail to execute because they fail to see the bigger picture. This isn’t to suggest that I had any ulterior motives having conversations with them both and turning them into eventual friendships. In fact, if you listened to our podcast episodes with both, the three of us had absolutely no idea who each other were when starting a dialogue. Friendships were just naturally created which lead to opportunities to help one another. Most would have approached this as too short-term. No need to have a conversation. Others, such as myself, understand that connections are what helps you as a person grow and at the end of the day, just being a person, being nice, having fun, can pay dividends.

What happened from this luck of timing and building a natural relationship with one another? Both ended up on our show. Both became really good friends in a short period of time. One ended up introducing us to a lot more connections, several of whom will be in future podcast episodes. Another introduced us to a prospective new customer for Chop Dawg that needs our help bringing her iPhone application to life. What appeared on paper as a small dividend, a small value, turned into the potential of a big win, on top of the fact that natural friendships, memories, and bonds were crafted as the foundational layer to all of this.

Talk about a win-win, right?

You need to put yourself out there to nail down the timing variable. When you do, timing will always present itself. After all, time is happening every single second of our lives. Time has passed with you reading this article, right? Understand that since time is a constant, we need to focus on the uncontrollable; our execution, our capturing, our enjoying the moment, even if we aren’t sure where in the long term it will manifest. Not every situation will have the serendipity that this example above gives, but if almost every interaction can turn into even an ounce more of success and enjoyment, what is the harm of trying?

Timing is and isn’t everything.

About Joshua Davidson: I build apps and help grow companies. Founder and CEO of ChopDawg.com. Co-host of #thePawdcast on iTunes. Featured on FOX, MSNBC, CBS, Technically, EliteDaily and Mashable.

Are you or your company looking for a talented development/design team to help build + scale your app? Email me personally (and directly) at [email protected] for a free consultation!