Opportunity Magnified: The Value In Seeing What Others Miss

I know it sounds cliche… but the power of positive thinking really does bring an avalanche of wonderful things pouring into your life. From your job to your marriage to your social life to your personal interests…it pays to start listening to what your Inner Opportunist has to say. Think for a moment about a company who lays off thousands of its employees–some that have worked at the company for 20 years. Debbie, one of these employees was the marketing manager of the company. She is laid off after giving 10 years of her professional life to the company–increasing its sales, hiring and mentoring an entire marketing area, and being at the company’s beck and call. For most of her adult life, Debbie has fantasized about starting her own marketing consulting firm, but fear held her back from pursuing such a goal. Without a job holding her back, Debbie decides she is going to open the business she has always dreamed of running. Now she is doing $1 million of business a year and making a six-figure income. Is Debbie better off now? You bet she is.nOpen Your Mind. Open your mind to the possibilities. Don’t look at a situation for its face value. There is a lot of hidden meaning and potential lurking beneath the surface of what you or others may see. Having an open mind allows you to evaluate a situation clearly. Marc applies for a job as an account executive for an advertising firm. He has been working for many years and while he has never worked for an ad agency, he feels like he has the natural skills to fill the role requirements. He interviews for the position, but the agency calls him a day later and offers him a lower paying position unde eath the account executive with the opportunity for advancement into an account executive position in one or two years. Is this a bad thing? No. Marc looks at it as an opportunity to break into the field he wants to work in, learn the business, and grow into his dream position. Marc is open-minded and ready to ride in on an opportunity when one presents itself. Your neighbor puts two wooden chairs out for the trash man and you have been on the hunt for very similar chairs to complete your dining room. Do you look at the chairs and see trash? Or do you look at the chairs and see an opportunity to complete your dining room set? You ask your neighbor, do they mind if you take the chairs. You sand down the wood, refinish it, and paint a little flower on the back of each seat. Your dining room set is now complete. What your neighbor saw as two pieces of trash, you have turned into your treasure–you saw an opportunity and took it.nEmpower Your Attitude. A positive attitude is powerful. People who look on the bright side of a situation find alte ate ways to solve problems, and view adversity as a blessing in disguise, are able to harness the real power of attraction for themselves. Because of this, they’re able to “make their own luck,” “be in the right place at the right time,” “create win-win situations,” and even hone that inner voice that tells them when to act on a hunch, and when to lay low or stay put. Pam’s dog, Barnie, just died after he turned 13. Pam cannot remember a time without Barnie. Instead of wallowing in her tears, she thinks of all of the dogs who need the loving home she can offer as she heads to the local pet shelter to adopt a new dog. There are cages and cages of dogs that people have given up for adoption or have been picked up from wandering the streets cold and hungry. Pam instantly falls in love with a Jack Russell in the last cage of the row. She names her Betty and takes her home. A dog that someone saw as a burden or an inconveniene becomes Pam’s most prized relationship. Bad things happen to good people, but why let yourself get sucked down into the negative, when you can soar on the side of the positive? When something unfavorable happens, most of the time, you wind up better for it. Make it your job to magnify opportunities that become available to you, and open your eyes to the opportunities that others may be missing.