Have you ever asked yourself this question?  I know I did for many years.  I would observe people who were finding more success than me in many endeavors and I would just repeat that question over and over again in my mind.  The problem was this is a disempowering question and I would just come up with a list of reasons I was not getting opportunities.  I realized my focus shouldn’t be one why I did not get opportunities, but it should be on what I could do in order to get more opportunities.  Here are the three things I realized I could do to gain more opportunities.

#1 – Become a Person Others Want To Be Around

The reality is opportunities come from other people.  In order to receive those opportunities we need to be around other people.  If we are not people who others want to be around then we will not receive opportunities from tem.  There are so many ways to learn to how to be a person others want to be around.  One of the most important things anyone can do is read How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie.  This book is filled with timeless wisdom that anyone can benefit from.  I cannot encourage you enough to read this and re-read it.

Another important step to become a person others want to be around is to develop a grateful spirit.  If you are reading this that means you have access to a computer and the internet.  That already puts you in the highest percentage of wealthy people living on earth.  We all have so many blessings to be thankful for.  People do not like being around negative, complaining, and ungrateful people.  I encourage you to check your heart and your perspective in all situations to see if you are truly giving thanks for your many blessings.  Are you thankful for the opportunities you have already had?

#2 – Learn How To Identify Opportunities

Successful people think differently than the average person.  Once we understand this simple fact we can leverage it to our advantage.  Most average people are skeptical and they are always trying to figure out, “What is the catch?”  Certainly we need to seek wisdom and apply discernment to our decision making processes, but often times being a skeptic, cynic, or realist prevents someone from seeing opportunities for what they truly are – OPPORTUNITIES.

Opportunities are not guarantees.  They require work and we are the variable.  There are not many things worth doing in life that are guaranteed.  If they were guaranteed then everyone would be doing them, but hopefully you do not want to be like everyone else.  In order to be able to see opportunities we must first abandon our fear which masquerades as skepticism and realism.  If we are not open to opportunities we will not be able to see them when they cross our paths.

One of the primary things Beth and I do in our business is we sit down with individuals and couples who want to improve their finances and we offer them an opportunity to start their own business.  As I write this we are having a FREE training tomorrow morning with one of our mentors who earns $2,000,000/year in our business!  Think about that.  How many times in life do any of us ever meet people who earn $2,000,000/year?  Even more important, how many opportunities do we get to learn from someone who has been that successful and is offering to teach us what she does FOR FREE?  If we think about that logically the training tomorrow morning could literally change someone’s life if they get in the room.  Many of the right people will be in the room, but unfortunately far too many people whom Beth and I have invited have “reasons” why they can’t be there tomorrow.

This is an insight that helped me begin to see opportunities way better.

#3 – Take Calculated Risks

Since opportunities are not guaranteed many people are afraid of the “risk” involved.  In The Top 10 Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class the 7^th distinction is identified as “Millionaires take calculated risks.  The middle class is afraid of risks.”  There is so much wisdom packed into that distinction.  I only want to identify one observation.  People with an average mindset who avoid risk make a false assumption.  They assume if they avoid “risks” they are not taking a risk.  Here is the reality:

In his chapter on “risk” author Keith Cameron Smith gives great insight on how to evaluate risk and learn to take calculated risk.  He offers three questions we should ask ourselves.

What’s the best thing that could happen?

What’s the worst thing that could happen?

What’s the most likely thing to happen?

If the worst thing that could happen will not completely ruin you and the most likely thing could help you then go for it.  If you couldn’t recover from the worst thing or the most likely thing will not help you then don’t do it.

So if we want more opportunities we need to become people others want to be around, we need to be able to identify opportunities, and we have to take calculated risks.  This all boils down to, we must take action.  Be bold and pursue the passions and purposes that have been placed on your heart.

Question: What is one opportunity you acted on which improved your life?  Comment below