• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

Where are you not looking?

Published: Tuesday, 10 February 2009

You’ve brainstormed and tried all the keywords that you could think of in Google, you’ve asked Jeeves, you’ve spoken to your lecturers and you’ve spoken to all the people you know - everyone you can think of! To no avail. No matter how hard you look, you can’t find anything.

 

So, you decide to set up something on your own accord. You brainstorm with your friends, talk to you lecturers about it, talk to other clubs and societies, set up a plan of attack and put the first steps into motion.

 

Then, something pops up - you get an email. Something that says, “I was here all along, what are you doing setting something up?”

 

I signed up to the entrepreneurs society at my university, and didn’t hear from them for the next four months. I emailed them at three different times, asked them how I could help, and whether I could set something up within them if they weren’t going to. I never heard back from them. So, I decided to set my own entrepreneurial community within the university. Two days later, I got an email from them about an initiative they are setting up. I clicked on their links and realised they had a website all along, as well as a blog! Where was I looking?

 

So, even if you’ve looked, researched, and spoken to everyone you can. Is there anything else you can do? Is there anywhere else you can look? Where are you not looking?

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Tech Schools Ambassador

    I've been named the ambassador for a Victorian Government education initiative called Tech Schools! Tech Schools are shared learning centres...

  • Questacon

    Gave a speech for IPAA ACT to 280 people at the CEOs and Young Professionals Network Breakfast.  It was a delight to find my friends at Questacon had a...

  • Plates

    "If you have too much on your plate, get a bigger plate." I first heard this when I was doing a leadership course in London in 2009.  Everyone in the...

  • YouthActionNet Global Fellowship Day 6: Succession

      We spoke about our succession plans today.  We did a great activity:  if I were to leave Robogals on November 6, one month from now, what would I...

  • Burnout

    I think that burnout happens when you set a goal, you work really, really hard to achieve the goal, and then the deadline comes and you haven’t...

  • Austrade San Francisco Landing Pad

    In late 2018, Aubot participated in the Australian Trade and Investment Commission’s (Austrade’s), Landing Pad program, which helps successful...

  • Obviously successful

    "We would have bought your company." "You just got lucky because it was the right time for that kind of thing." "All the elements in the industry were...

  • Forbes World's Top 50 Women In Tech

    I was pretty chuffed and surprised to learn that I was named a top 50 women in tech globally by Forbes magazine!  OMG! See the full list here.  And my...

  • Wall of Change

    I have a wall in my room where the artwork is sheets of paper blu-tacked next to each other, forming a rectangle.  I call it my "Wall of Change" My...

  • The unglamourous work you love

    I love the process of getting an idea, making a plan around it, and then bringing it to the world.  It usually involves a lot of emailing, fleshing...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top