Opportunity Knocks

March 10, 2008 in Business

It has been one of the craziest months of my life! First we had tornado’s, then we had a records snow storm this week. I can only think that we must be being tested. The best part about the last month is that we have spent a lot of family time together and I’ve really enjoyed it.

Our Kids are growing up very fast and there just isn’t a lot we can do about it. I’m starting to actually feel old now. I know it won’t be long and they will be moving out headed for college. Life does seem to go by fast,

Anyway, the title of this post is “Opportunity Knocks”. The older I get the more I start to see lost opportunities. Opportunities are honestly few and far between. Not only do you need to be in the right place at the right time, but you also need MUST recognize it when you see it! Sometimes you won’t ever have certain opportunities again, and you must take advantage of them.

Motivation + Opportunity = Success

To see an opportunity you must have motivation and you must have goals. We all have a certain amount of motivation. Everyone has something that motivates us. For some it’s money, for other is may be something as simple as finding time to relax. The real truth is that motivation is only part of the formula to get where you want to be. Being motivated alone will not make you successful. The flip side to this is you must find or MAKE an opportunity.

Now I can’t tell you how to find or make an opportunity, that’s something you must do for yourself. If you were to ask me for some advice on becoming motivated or finding an opportunity I would tell you this:

1. Find out what you want out of life and what you need to get there. Do you want a promotion at your job? Or maybe you want to retire before your 50. It all depends on what YOU want

2. You have to realize that with all things there is a price to pay for it. It might be less time with the family or it might be less time watching your favorite sports.

3. Motivation = opportunity – If you are motivated you will start looking for opportunities that will help you achieve your goals. Remember though, you cannot put one before the other and you cannot have one without the other.

4. “The boring guy leads a safe life”. This is a simple statement, but there is a lot of truth there. Getting where you want to be will take some risks. Not every risk will pay off, but you cannot be scared to try. With every opportunity there will be risks. You must ask yourself if you are ready to take on these risks.

“The are a million ways to make a million dollars, you just have to find one” This statement is from my good friend Jeremy Enke (jeremyenke.com) . He is a self made millionaire and the man is constantly staying one step ahead of his competition. The business he is in really doesn’t matter. Once he sets his mind to something, he does it and works his ass off to do it better than anyone else.

Jeremy will be the first to tell you that not every opportunity has worked out, but that didn’t keep him from trying. Not giving up and continuing to find and recognize opportunities has been the key to Jeremy’s success and the success of many others.

“Never worry about trying and failing, as long as you don’t fail to try”