Opportunity Runs on Its Own Clock
Opportunities don’t run on your schedule. But your future might depend on how you answer when they knock.
I was talking with a dear friend recently—someone who’s been at Tesla for over a decade. We were swapping stories about tenure, transitions, and that oddly satisfying feeling of hitting a nice, round milestone before you move on.
You know the kind:
Five years. Ten years. A decade. A full cycle.
Something that feels complete. Clean. Wrappable.
For the past few months, I found myself thinking:
“I kind of want to make it to five years before I leave.”
But after talking to my colleague, I asked myself:
For who?
Is it for me?
Is it for the story I want to tell on LinkedIn?
Is it for the people who scan resumes and see symmetry as a sign of loyalty?
The truth is—the timing isn’t right.
Because timing is never “right.”
And more honestly?
My heart has already moved on.
A new opportunity has opened. And the door is open right now.
And if I wait too long, it might close.
Time Is a Social Construct (And a Convenient Excuse)
We think in numbers.
Milestones. Anniversaries. Clean starts. Clean endings.
We look at resumes and count years as though they equate to meaning.
But what about the late nights?
The weekends worked? The holidays skipped?
The emotional investment—the time you gave, not just the time you stayed?
By that math, I’ve already given well over five years to Tesla. Especially if you include my internship.
And the round number I thought I needed? It’s already behind me.
Just not on paper.
Opportunity Has Its Own Clock
One thing I always tell people who are applying to Tesla:
“You don’t get to pick your start date. Tesla hires when it needs you. You adjust to its timeline—not the other way around.”
It turns out, life works the same way.
Opportunities don’t arrive when you’ve finished your checklist.
They show up uninvited, mid-sentence, sometimes even mid-crisis.
And your job isn’t to control their arrival.
Your job is to decide whether you’re going to walk through the door before it closes.
The question becomes:
Are you okay if the door closes because you chose to wait for the perfect moment?
And if the answer is no,
you already know what to do.
Time Is Relative. Alignment Is Truth.
You don’t fall in love at the “right” time.
You don’t meet the right people only when your calendar’s clear.
You don’t get the big offer after your goals are perfectly aligned.
Timing is rarely perfect.
But alignment? Alignment is what matters.
Does this opportunity align with who you are becoming?
Does it align with what brings you joy?
With what lights up your spirit and expands your sense of possibility?
That’s your compass—not a calendar.
Not the number of years in a cell on your resume, that some employer sees once every few years.
How I’m Making My Decision
In the end, I’m choosing to move forward not because the math adds up—but because the meaning does.
If you’re facing a tough decision like this, I’ve written about the decision-making framework I use to weigh tradeoffs, regret, and emotional clarity:
You can’t control timing.
But you can control your courage.
You can minimize your regret.
And you can choose to live aligned with your truth—even when it feels like you’re leaving a number incomplete.
It’s okay if your story doesn’t come in perfect round numbers.
It’s okay if you leave the chapter mid-sentence.
Because some doors are only open now.
And the most authentic thing you can do is step through—before you convince yourself you shouldn’t.
It’s not just rounding the tenure. It can be the title, promotion, that program/product launch. So ask yourself, are you doing it for yourself, or for the world to see a nice think on your resume?
Whatever you decide, just make the decision you won’t live to regret.