LIVE LIFE UP HIGH

Great opportunities are abundant and surround us everyday.  Opportunities in all areas of our lives. Opportunities to draw closer to the ones we love, opportunites to help more people, opportunities to start a great business, oppotunities to start a new career. Opportunities, Opportunities, Opportunities…

These opportunites come near us but we miss them all the time.  There are many ways to miss great oppotunities but I believe there are four major ways that stand out from the rest. If we change our behaviour in reference to these ways, we will be able to seize more oppotunities and we will be on our way to living higher and more fulfilling lives.

1. Not being on the look out for opportunities

One sure way to miss opportunity is not to look for it. An opportunity can be right in front of you but you can miss it if you are not looking for opportunities.  Let me share a great example with you.

Let’s say you are in a bustling warm weather city with lots of traffic. Let’s further say you spend an hour a day eating lunch outside where you can see the cars traveling on the street. After lunch, if I were to ask you how many red cars passed by, you probably couldn’t tell me. If, however, I asked you on the next day to count the number of red cars that pass by during your lunch break,  I suspect you would get that done quick easily. As a matter of fact, you would probably see more red cars than you have ever seen. You would see red cars because you made the decision to look for them.

It is similar with opportunities. In order to see them you have to make a decision to look for them. 

2. Not knowing exactly what to look for

Another way we miss opportunities is not knowing what they look like. Unlike red cars, opportunities are not always so obvious. In fact, opportunities are usually disguised in a way we wouldn’t expect.  This is a reason that even when people are earnestly looking for opportunities, sometimes they don’t see them. Here are two diguises opportunities don:

Problems are opportunities waiting to be harvested

Many times the greatest opportunities are found in problems around us. Things we face everyday.  No matter the size of the problem, in its solution is a potential opportunity. Every successful invention has been the result of  solving a problem. In fact, you were created to be a solution to a problem (We can discuss this further in another article).  Think about problems you face all the time. Things that may frustrate you in your work, in your relationships and the mechnical, technical, economic and political systems around you. Even the way things are done. You may be the person who has the idea to solve the problem, provide the missing link, or devise a better way of doing something. If you want to miss great opportunities then simply complain about the problems you face. If you want to identify great opporutnities then look at problems as a source of opportunity and start thinking of solutions. Who knows, you may suprise yourself.

Conversations contain opportunities not yet realized

Although it may not seem like it at times, all the problems in the world are not finding their way directly to you. Other people are experiencing problems all the time. Sometimes the problems they are experiencing are quite different from the problems you are facing. Indeed, the problems that they are facing may not even seem like problems to you. You know the solution or you have an inkling how to figure out the solution.

Oftentimes, we miss these opportunities because we don’t really listen to people. I am very guilty of this myself. We need to practice active listening.  Listen on purpose and talk less.  You will be surprised at what you learn and how many opportunities you will hear. If you want to miss an opportunity, just keep talking and half-listening to those around you. If you want to discover great opportunities, listen, really listen to those with whom you converse.

3. Reacting in fear

This is a big one and a common one. A lot of times we see the opportunites and we know they are opportunities, but we fail to act on them because of fear.  We may fear we are not smart enough, fast enough or worthy enough to seize this opportunity. Or we may think that we may fall flat on our faces. Or we may be afraid of success. How will this opportunity change us? There are so many variations on this theme of fear. The best advice I have heard to defeat this type of fear is to prepare the best you can and then act anyway, despite the fear.  You may feel fearful but go forward anyway.  Also, if possible, start small and build on your successes. Don’t let fear stop you from seizing great opportunities.

4. Dismissing opportunities

Finally, a common way we miss opportunities by simply dismissing them. We decide, for whatever reason, that this is not something we can do. It is too big for us , too complicated for us or too small for us. It may be because of fear or because we are just overwhelmed with other things. Whatever the reason, deep down, we believe that we can’t get the opportunity done. We talk ourselves out of pursuing it. Let me suggest that if you have an opportunity don’t just dismiss it, even if you can’t do it by yourself, consider teaming up with someone to do  something with it. Even if it doesn’t go anywhere it doesn’t mean it was a waste of time. If nothing else, you have learned something valuable that can help you seize the next opportunity. If an opportunity comes your way and you recognize it, it is important for you to do something with it. I would go as far as saying it is your duty act on it in some way.  It presented itself to you for a reason. This may be the opportunity that changes your life and the lives of many others for good.

Opportunities are all around us, they are very valuable and help us live better more fulfilling lives. Let’s make up our minds to seize more of the opportunities around us starting today.