Not Every Opportunity Is Your Opportunity - Learning Boundaries While building a Career📓

When you're trying to get into the media, content, or marketing world, people tell you one thing over and over:

"Say yes to everthing. You never know where it could lead."

And at first, I really believed that.

Every email was important.

Every invite was major progress.

Every unpaid project was me getting even closer to where I wanted to be.

That's because when you're still in school, building a name for yourself, and still trying to figure out your place in the industry, it feels like you don't have much to offer. Or that you don't have a right to be picky yet.

So I said yes a lot!

Yes to helping on projects.

Yes to events I had to rearrange my whole schedule for.

Yes to things that seemed beneficial to me but weren't at all.

For a while, I thought being busy meant I was doing something right.

After a while I realized that being busy and actually moving forward are two different things.

The Truth Nobody Explains About "Opportunities"

Not every opportunity is going to pay you, especially at the beginning. And I understand that. But trying to explain that to my Caribbean parents is the real challenge.

Experience matters.

Connections matter.

Learning matters.

Something I'm still learning even now is that if something isn't paying you, it should still be giving you something valuable.

A real connection.

A real skill.

A real chance to grow.

A real addition to your portfolio.

Not just the feeling of being included.

There were times where I left situations thinking,

"That sounded important... but what did I actually learn and gain from that?"

Especially when you're balancing school, work, sports, content creation, and trying to build your future at the same time, you slowly realize your time is more valuable than you thought.

When You're Young, You Feel Like You Have to Prove Yourself All the Time

Being a young Black woman trying to step into professional and creative spaces, I feel as if I have to say yes.

Because who knows if I'll get offered this same experience ever again, who am I to question it.

My first instinct is to prove I deserve to be there.

To show I'm hardworking.

To show I'm serious.

To show I'm grateful.

To show I can handle it.

And I can tell you having that mindset will have you saying yes even when you're exhausted, overwhelmed, or not actually benefiting from what you're doing.

I used to think saying no would make people forget about me.

Now I'm starting to understand that saying yes to everything can make you lose yourself, your goals and dreams.

Learning the Difference Between Building and Being Used

My favourite Professor told me there's a difference between doing something for experience and doing something because you feel like you can't say no.

Building your way into the industry sometimes means doing things that aren't glamorous.

But it should never be at the cost of constantly feeling drained, behind or unsure why you're even there.

Now before I go to say yes to something, I try to ask myself:

Is this helping me grow?

Does this match the direction I see for myself?

Am I excited about this, of just scared to turn it down?

Would I still do this is nobody saw it ?

Those few questions alone have saved me a lot of stress.

Because you have to always remember not every door is meant for you, even if it's open.

Protecting Your Time is Part of Growing Up

The older I get, the more I realize that being professional isn't just about working hard.

It's about knowing where your energy should go .

I'm balancing school.

I'm building a personal brand.

I'm podcasting brand.

I'm working.

I'm trying to create a career before I even graduate.

I defiantly can't say yes to everything anymore, even if I want to.

And honestly, learning that has made me feel more confident, not less.

Because setting boundaries doesn't mean you're not hungry.

It means you're starting to understand your value.

What I'm Still Learning

I'm still figuring it out.

Sometimes I still say yes when I should say no.

Sometimes I still overcommit.

Sometimes I still wonder if I'm making the right choices.

But I know now that every opportunity isn't automatically the right one.

And part of growing in your 20s is learning how to tell the difference.

Call to Action

If you're in school, trying to build experience, and feeling like you have to say yes to everything just to get ahead, you're not alone.

We're all learning what's worth our time in real time.

Connect with me on LinkedIn and tell me:

What's one opportunity you said yes to that taught you the most about yourself?

Your Friend Hannah Cowie💕