Some opportunities are shiny detours. Saying no to a good thing in the wrong direction is still progress.

Not everything that looks like an opportunity is going where you are going. Good offers are harder to refuse than bad ones precisely because there is nothing obviously wrong with them. Time spent on something genuinely worthwhile in the wrong direction still costs you the months.

When something appealing arrives, ask where it leaves you in two years. If the answer is sideways, it is fine to decline and be glad you were asked. Keep a short note of what you are actually aiming at so the question stays easy to answer.