Opportunities or Failure: You get what you Think About

Tagalog Version (Click Here)

“Thoughts are things” (Napoleon Hill), “what you focus on and think about expands”, and “seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). Whatever you think about during your free time determines what you will consistently see AND what you will always get: Opportunities or Failure. Your thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives determine your worldview.

• Some people see an empty field… others see a possible farmland or a shopping mall.
• Some people see a street full of tired commuters… others see a street that needs a restaurant or a cafe.
• Some people see a laptop for games and facebook… others see an online business tool.
• Some people see old and broken houses… others see a renovation and decoration business opportunity.
• Some people see an unemployed person… others see a potential entrepreneur or employee.
• Some people see that they have no time because of their long commutes… others see free time to read business and investing books while on the bus or train.
• Some people see free time to waste and watch TV after work… others see time to study investments.
• Some people see money they can spend on gambling… others see money they can invest for their future.
• Some people see a book on finance, business, or investing that costs $10 and think it’s expensive… others see knowledge that can let them earn $10 million.
• Some people see that they’re poor… others see that they can someday become rich.
• Some people see all their problems and limitations in life… others see all their blessings and opportunities.

Again, your thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives determine the opportunities and problems that you notice or ignore as well as how you act upon them. How do you see the world around you?

Finding Opportunities EVERYWHERE:

Here’s a little exercise to spark your creative thinking: Imagine that a burglar is trying to knock down your door to rob your house and kill your family and you have less than 5 minutes to prepare for it.

QUICK! Find FIVE things around you that you can use to defend yourself!

Will you break open that bottle of baby powder to try and blind the attacker? Will you pour a bottle of cooking oil on the ground near the door to try and make them slip? Will you throw or wield the nearest heavy objects like parts of your PC or your laptop at them to try and incapacitate them until the police arrive?

The key to finding opportunities is simple: Focus on a Goal and you will keep finding things that help. If you don’t, your mind will likely just keep thinking about all the inconveniences and problems instead, thus keeping you blind from all the good around you.

(If you want to learn about the scientific explanation for this, go and search for information about the “Reticular Activating System” or RAS. It’s the part of the brain that filters all the information around you and only shows you the things that are important to you, whether they’re the things that cause you problems, or the things that bring opportunities and solutions.)

Now here’s another exercise:

You want to earn one million dollars. How will you do it?

Keep working and saving money until you have enough? Look at your own skills, work harder and gain new skills to get promoted and earn more? Invest the money you saved so it will become a million dollars much faster?

If you can start a business and sell something that people need to earn that million, what will you sell?
Have you noticed that people commuting to and from work need some quick food and drinks?
Have you noticed the clothes you wear and thought that maybe you can buy and sell clothes?
Have you noticed the furniture you’re sitting on and thought that maybe you can start a furniture shop?
Have you noticed that the paint inside your house or in other people’s houses have started peeling off? Have you thought of providing house repairs for your neighbors or townspeople?
What about the computer you’re using? Have you noticed that some people might need computer parts for upgrades and repair?

If you have a goal or a burning desire for something, you’ll find the opportunities that go along with it.

Try that exercise again: Write down a goal you want to accomplish in the comments and then write just three ways on how you can achieve it. You might just find the ways to do it soon enough.