Understanding How Opportunities Are Distributed
And how to expose yourself to them.
The definition of “opportunity” according to the Google dictionary is:
“A time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.”
The term is often used as a synonym to chance or luck. In fact, a phrase used by the Google dictionary to give context to the meaning is,
“Opportunity knocks — a chance of success occurs.”
Everyone knows of someone who seems to just get lucky. My husband is one of the most flukiest people I know. He sets out to do something, and he gets it through any means possible — most of the time, a chain of unimaginable events miraculously take place and the result falls right into his lap. It’s sickening.
But there is a misinterpretation around opportunity that causes us to become bitter about those who are successful. When I gasp in shock at how my husband comes to reach some of his goals, I am shutting down the idea that the same might happen to me. And this is common amongst many — we think that luck won’t reach us and that we have to do things “the hard way”.
We don’t think that we will be privy to the flukes that come to successful people. Opportunities are unpredictable and completely out of our control so we don’t rely on them to achieve our goals. In fact, growing up, we are told not to rely on luck.
And then, we think we have to work harder than everyone else who made it and we feel discouraged. We underestimate the hard work that successful people put in, and at the same time we feel overwhelmed at the idea of how much work we have to put in — often creating barriers of fear and stress before we have even begun.
We’re offended and think about how unfair life is, and we start giving up on the notion of making it. We begin looking at different options and we alter our goals, only to a year later be back at square one, feeling unfulfilled once again because we still desire to do X, Y, or Z.
But let me tell you something I have learned.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” — Bob McKenzie
Opportunities Appear To Those Who Know They Are There
When we shut ourselves down by feeling deprived, we are literally saying no to the opportunities that would come if we had chosen to work towards achieving our goals. We stop ourselves from learning, from experiencing life’s lessons, and ultimately, life’s opportunities.
In “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason, a group of men go to their friend Arkad, the richest man in the city, to ask how he came to be so wealthy. Arkad tells the story of how a chain of events over the years led to inheriting land and the riches of a fellow wealthy man who was reaching old age.
His friends seem disappointed at the revelation, but then Arkad responds,
“Opportunity is a haughty goddess who wastes no time with those who are unprepared.”
Arkad explains that he had desired, before meeting this old rich man, to become successful, and had done everything in his power to learn how. When Arkad met the old man, he asked him outright how he had come to be so rich, took every piece of advice on board, and begun working on acquiring wealth.
He made mistakes along the way which caused him to lose his savings, but this did not deter him from his goals — rather he took the loss as a lesson learned.
The old man should’ve passed on his wealth onto his children, but because they had not learned to save and spend money wisely, he decided to give it to Arkad instead.
Arkad desired to be wealthy and thus did everything he could to see and receive all the opportunities he got. Most of all, his goal never changed despite his initial setbacks, unlike a lot of people who give up when the first hiccups come along.
In fact, those hiccups are opportunities too, but we fail to see them this way. We tend to see them as signs that what we are aiming for is unachievable, or that the result won’t be worth the hardships.
But if we saw them as opportunities instead, we could trigger feelings of excitement rather than stress that could motivates us to continue working.
“Everything negative — pressure, challenges — is all an opportunity for me to rise.” — Kobe Bryant
A True Story — How My Best Friend’s Business Boomed
A few years ago, my best friend and her husband started a business in New Zealand that was initially meant to be an evening hobby. Soon enough, they were forced to quit their day time jobs and put in 70–80 hours a week to keep up with the demand of their growing business.
Within a year, they owned a store with employees and couldn’t keep up with online orders.
I asked them the other day what made their business grow so beautifully.
They said they were simply in the right place at the right time. My friend’s husband saw a gap in the market at the time and took a chance.
A lot of competing stores opened a year later and failed miserably while theirs thrived. They had no expectations from the beginning but kept an open mind and a positive attitude. They took every setback and turned it into an opportunity to grow.
Today, they own 6 stores, they look after over 40 employees, and they live more than comfortably. But that didn’t come as easily as it may seem. They have had break-ins to their stores and a couple of unreliable employees — only they did not let these discourage them. Not many would know about the hardships because they did not focus on them. Rather, they concentrated on overcoming them.
“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.” — George S. Patton
Learning to Somewhat Rely On Opportunities
If you have ever worked in a sales environment or close to one, you will know that the term “opportunity” is used to describe a prospective sale/client or anything that signifies potential growth.
You may be familiar with a Customer Relation Management (CRM) programme such as Salesforce which has a section called “opportunity”. There is no reason other than the fact that every potential sale starts as an opportunity — something which every company relies on to grow their business. And a good salesman maximises every opportunity in order to be successful.
Opportunities are generated by factors external to the organization, It is the possibility that organization can use to achieve better market and financial results. — CEOpedia
The market is just as unpredictable as every individual’s life. Remember that every company is owned by individuals with a drive to succeed.
Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Your Own Faith
When you have a goal and you commit to it, you are believing in yourself.
“Perseverance is another word for faith.” — Earl Nightingale
When you have undeniable motivation to make it, you put yourself in situations and circumstances that lead to opportunities. They may be in the form of meeting connections that can help you, or stumbling across a job ad.
You are supposed to make your goals and start taking the necessary steps to get there. You don’t adapt your goals to our circumstances — it is the other way around.
Opportunities Are Predictably Unpredictable
Think about the wealthiest, most rich people in the world. What do they all have in common? Where is their wealth coming from?
A passive income.
My father-in-law gave my husband and me a piece of advice that I will never forget. He said,
“Make money work for you — not the other way round.”
He means that we need to be thinking about acquiring assets that give us an income without us doing much eventually.
This may include property. This may mean investing in stocks and options. This may mean starting a business providing a product with an extremely high demand that requires us to hire a workforce, like my best friend’s business in New Zealand.
What is your first thought about doing any of the above?
They’re all high risk and unpredictable — as are opportunities.
But that’s what the richest, wealthiest men and women in the world all keep generating and maximising.
The Secret To Spotting Opportunities
It’s not actually a secret at all. It’s so obvious that we all miss it because we think the secret is complex and complicated. It is simply to keep a positive mind and to work towards your goals. And how do we do that?
“Go out and learn.”
This is the other piece of advice that my father-in-law has given to everyone he knows over the years. Never stop learning.
“The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” — Brian Herbert
It is the learning that cultivates curiosity, creativity, and opens the mind up to spotting all the opportunities in the world. And they are infinite.
Robert Kiyosaki, in his book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”,he lists the lessons on how to gain wealth by acquiring assets rather than liabilities, and how to tell the difference between the two. But what he consistently talks about is the power of learning.
In almost every chapter of his book, he talks of seminars he attended, courses he paid thousands of dollars for, people he learned from, and consequently, the vast education he has acquired, and continues to invest in today.
It is after reading his book and playing his game “Cashflow” that I redefined the word opportunity. It is not something that only the successful are privy to receiving — it is the openness to receiving that makes people successful.
“Great opportunities are not seen with your eyes. They are seen with your mind.” – Robert Kiyosaki
Takeaways
The opportunities to succeed are open to everyone. They are not to be stolen or taken from others because there is an abundance of them. We just have to be of the right mindset to see them and work on spotting them. It is a skill that needs to be nurtured, just like anything else, like riding a bike or learning how to cook.
When you see the simplicity in this and think of it as a new habit you want to cultivate, it won’t seem so daunting to take a leap of faith and start working on your goals.
Cringe all you like, but I dare you to try it. Embrace the cheesiness that life is supposed to bring and invest in it. Take some risks and don’t let fear stop you. It is the fear that has kept so many where they are today.
“Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinem
Study the world, become curious, cultivate that creativity — and opportunities will suddenly be everywhere you look.
Sylvia Emokpae is passionate about self-love and motherhood. See more work like this.
