Opportunity Favors the Prepared Mind

I’d argue that success in life is largely dependent on opportunity recognition, execution, and luck. Those factors are what separate hard work with average return from hard work with exponential return.

I was once told that the ability to recognize and act quickly on a hand-full of opportunities was a skill that set up the defining moments in a successful man’s life. After thinking about that and hearing the quote above in class, I wanted to think about what I could do to position myself to best identify and act on opportunities that present themselves to me.

The following is a list of 5 activities that best do that:

Stay up-to-date on news

One of the most valuable aspect of keeping up with current events is that it has the potential to give you that “ah-ha” idea by introducing you to a concept or event that you weren’t familiar with. It may not be a million dollar business plan, but learning about a new technology that makes your life easier is definitely worth learning about.

Furthermore, being knowledgeable about recent news increases the range of topics you can have a conversation about and possibly bring about new relationships. Check out DrudgeReport and Google News for a quick scan of what’s going on in the world.

Never stop learning

Read, watch, or listen. You have three options (arranged from most to least important in my opinion) to continually grow your knowledge base and mature as a person.

It took me multiple years to fall in love with reading. Years of forced summer reading turned me off to the activity and it used to be the last thing I wanted to do. The trick was shifting from fiction to non-fiction business books and I haven’t stopped since. Find a subject that adds value to your life and do some browsing on Amazon.

Also, check out some TED talks to hear some of the leading speakers on innovative thought.

Keep a journal

Reflection and self-evaluation are the goals here. I like Moleskine notebooks for their numerous format options and try and spend at least 5 minutes a day writing about an interesting thing I learned or a word for the day. This way, you are further exploring your ideas and can have a more complete view on topics you’ve covered.

Step outside your comfort zone

Easiest way to start this is to order a dish you’ve never had at your favorite restaurant. People don’t realize how powerful our comfort zones are in influencing our actions and taking a small step like trying something new sets the stage for even more new experiences.

If you have to, play “Yes Man” and force yourself to say yes to the next event you are invited to, regardless of what you want to do. You never know who you will meet or what type of experience you may have.

Our comfort zones do limit our risk to bad experiences, but think about the return you are missing out by passing on doing things you’ve never tried.

Remove negativity

This is the hardest, yet, most beneficial thing you can do on the quest to personal development. Things just tend to work out for positive people and saying “I can” vs. “I can’t” can totally remove limitations that you put on yourself.

Finally, nobody wants to hang out with a negative person. You bring yourself down as well as the people around you. Wake up and realize that every single second of your life can be fun if you have a positive outlook.

Get some ideas on how to be more positive from The Positivity Blog.