So, I’m currently on the train heading to my stop in Glendale. One of my good college friends is picking me up and we plan to have an “epic weekend”.
I’ve been actively working to bring to fruition all these great ideas I have that can help anyone and everyone who’s interested in achieving more than just their current situation. While on my quest to help everyone around me achieve what I know they’re capable of, I’m always looking for ways to better communicate the vision I can see for others, for them to see for themselves.
I happened to sign up for a magazine subscription to Entrepreneur a few months ago (supported a fellow young entrepreneur selling door to door), and decided to bring one of the copies with me to read as I ride today. I must say, it’s very good and speaks to a lot of what I want to achieve. I’m glad I bought it.
The article I’m reading really stood out to me. It’s titled: “Born or Made?” Are Entrepreneurs A Special Born Breed…Or Can They Be Created?
It’s a great read, but a paragraph within it really spoke to me. I’ll rewrite it here:
One of the things we teach in entrepreneurship and give exposure to is OPPORTUNITY RECOGNITION. Some people may go through life and don’t quite see the opportunities. Once they look at the world through a slightly different lens, they start to see what may have potential. Opportunities in general don’t jump out at you and say “Ahh!” -they have to be shaped, they have to be created, and once people understand that process, they will never look at the world the same way again. It doesn’t mean they will act on the opportunity– that’s a different part of the process. But if people are more sensitive to seeing opportunities, they are more likely to act on them.
I think this was extremely well written and articulates the way I see things and the potential for, and in others. I put “opportunity recognition” in caps because I feel this is central to improving or changing your situation (if that happens to be what you desire to do that is).
An opportunity is something I feel many people miss out on. Not because they don’t want to capitalize on it, or aren’t smart enough to do so, but because they don’t know how to recognize it in the first place. That can be for many different reasons, but most important of all, at least in my opinion, is because of lack of education (and I don’t mean just formal education).
I mean “life” education.
A really good quote that comes to my mind is “you don’t know what you don’t know”.
This concept can keep people from ever knowing that things could be more or better than what they currently are, or have been in the past. You could spend your whole life waiting for that “perfect opportunity” to arise, BUT if you don’t even know how to recognize an opportunity, what good does 1,000 opportunities do you? A million?
I guess the point I’m trying to make is, are you in a position to take advantage of your opportunity once it comes your way? Do you know what to look for, or how?
If not, what are you doing to learn, or figure it out?
This article inspired me to pose these questions, not only to myself, but also to those around me. Let me know your thoughts, or if you’ve come across anything that has inspired you like this has for me in the comment section below.
