When we set goals, we consider many factors (how, who, why, etc.), but we tend to ignore a decisive factor, timing.
Eric Anderson, Founder of Space Adventures, speaks of a concept he learned from years working in the space industry: Windows of Opportunity. An idea that can help us see goal-setting differently.
Source: Air & Space Magazine
"A Window of Opportunity is a rare set of circumstances and a brief moment of time in which an otherwise impossible outcome is potentially achievable.”
-Eric Anderson
Eric gives the following example.
In 1964, an engineer at NASA named Gary Flandro was studying ways of exploring our solar system's outer planets when he made an incredible discovery.
According to his estimations Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune would align once every 176 years.
This meant that a spacecraft launched from Earth in an exact window of time could then "slingshot" from one planet to the next using each planet's gravity. This would allow the trip to be made in 10 years instead of 40.
The problem was, the next alignment would occur in 1977, just 13 years away.
Flandro's discovery changed everything. NASA made this mission the priority and used Flandro's window of opportunity to launch theVoyager program.
Source: National Geographic and NASA
Source: NASA
NASA launched the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft at the right moment and are still one of the most extraordinary space projects in history.
Today, both Voyagers continue to transmit data as they explore beyond where any other man-made object has been. A feat that would have been impossible if NASA had not reset its goals and projects based on the window of opportunity that came across.
Images Voyager took of Saturn
The biggest lesson we must remember is that Windows of Opportunity end. We need to detect them and jump at the opportunity, even if it means shifting priorities to make the most of the moment.
The Takeaway:
Timing is everything. Make it count.
The landscape shifts every day. And as the world continues to change, our ability to detect these Windows of Opportunity becomes more relevant.
We have to be decisive, more connected to our surroundings and to the changes and opportunities that arise.
What goals are not worth attempting now?
What windows are you not seeing?
Let me know what you think.
-María Albert (@maria_albert13)
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