Observations on Opportunity

Observations on Opportunity

Recently, I attended my 30-year high school reunion. As a
blind person, I sat and listened to the conversations and
observations of those around me.

The most common comment was, "I'm surprised they turned out
like that." Apparently, everyone turned out either better or
worse, but certainly different than would have been
expected.

As young people, we do not come with a label that says
"Future Brain Surgeon" or "Soon to be Unemployed Alcoholic."
Opportunity is much the same. You've heard frustrated
investors lament, "If I'd only bought Microsoft back
then..." Well, unfortunately, Microsoft didn't look like
Microsoft back then.

Opportunities and possibilities more often come packaged as
problems and challenges. The only thing you must do to have
a great idea is to go through your daily routine and wait
for something bad to happen. When it does, ask the magic
question, "How could I have avoided that?" The answer to
that question will be a great idea.

The only thing you need to do to have a great business
opportunity is to ask yourself, "How could I help other
people avoid their problems?" The answer to that question
can make you rich, famous, and successful in every way.

If you read biographies of great inventors, initially you're
struck by the fact that their ideas and innovations made
total sense. They seem so obvious now in retrospect.

When you think of living in the horse-and-buggy days when
Orville and Wilbur Wright are building a plane, it seems to
be a logical fit and an exciting opportunity. If you're
struggling by candlelight when Thomas Edison invents a light
bulb, it seems revolutionary and readily apparent.

If you're waiting weeks or even months for correspondence
when Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone, it seems
transformational; however, if you will read in depth the
biographies of these innovators and many others, you will
find that, quite often, their greatest struggles were not
developing a new invention but, instead, their greatest
struggles were often convincing bankers, investors, and
business leaders of the validity of their inventions.

Remember, opportunities never appear in nice, clean wrapped
packages with neon signs that say OPPORTUNITY. You've got to
dig a little.

As you go through you day today, look for opportunities
disguised as problems.

Today's the day!