I gave a short talk on wealth creation this week to pension fund members of a certain organisation. After the talk someone approached me and asked me about opportunity. In essence he was rather confused and wondering whether he is the only one who could not seem to see or access this so called opportunity. He referred to the recent Global Entrepreneurship summit and the whole buzz that has since followed about the countless opportunities in business. He also made reference to some of the investments that I also spoke about. He confessed that everything I said made logical sense but he just couldn’t see it and would not even know where to start looking for all these opportunities whether they are in business or investments. This was particularly important to him because he was retiring soon. Probably many of us can relate to this same situation. You want to invest or start a business or take your investment group forward but you seem to be stuck as far as identifying the next step or the next opportunity. Here are my thoughts on this i.e. why people cannot seem to see the so-called opportunities.
You are looking outwards rather than inwards. You are looking at what you don’t have rather than what you have. You are looking at what someone else has done and where he or she is today rather than what you can actually do. For example you may have heard about someone who capitalized on opportunity and put up a shopping mall. Immediately you think that is how all opportunities look like i.e. putting up shopping malls. Your mind quickly rationalizes on what is needed to have a shopping mall i.e. land, capital, contractors etc. Opportunity is suddenly looking very hard so you switch off. That was someone else’s version of opportunity and most times we don’t even stick around long enough to hear the entire story. Maybe that person started with the same amount or less resources than you have, you could have learnt something or at the very least be inspired. Always look at what you have. Maybe you don’t event realise what you can start working with. You meet opportunity by aligning your current resources with ideas, investments etc. Note the term current resources. Not future resources that may or may not come at some unspecified point in time with the future. What do you have? This is more than just money. It could be skills, networks, supportive family, ideas etc. Determine in your head to believe that what you already have is enough to start, even if there is no money in the bank. Opportunity does not show up in a mental environment of scarcity.
There was one time you could have made a certain investment or had an idea but then you didn’t work on it. Many people have done this and years later they see someone who actually did something with that same idea or investment opportunity. You then tell yourself that the one shot you had is gone. The reason you are good at the job you do today is not because of your degree. It is because you show up day in day out. You have some good days and you also have the kind of days that make you want to stay in bed until the world comes to an end. But what do you do? You still show up. And when you make some catastrophic mistakes like we all do every so often, you still show up. Opportunity responds to the same thing. Show up. You don’t have to have an earth shattering idea. Just act on the small things that come to mind. Maybe it was just to invest in the stock market. Do it. Because once you do it you will start observing more and more about stock markets and maybe one day when you connect the dots backwards it is what led to you starting a business. Maybe it was a business idea. You don’t have to wait for the perfect product that will instantly have 1, 000 customers. Just try and get one and let that teach you. Realise opportunity is more about process than sudden inspiration that sorts you out for life. It is about just being in the bus rather than having a sure route to the final destination. And if you can relate to having not acted on something before, than just do it now. They say the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago but the next best time is now. Maybe opportunity is waiting for you to just act on the small things. Like Stanley, my colleague always says one million shillings is made with a million, one shillings. Act on your shilling and the million will show up.
Lastly opportunity cannot come to you in the same environment. You have got to be doing something different or thinking about something different or talking about something different. If you are looking for opportunity what is the difference in your environment? If the cycle remains the same e.g. go to work, come home, watch TV, complain you may be in the wrong environment and will not hear that soft knock. You cannot be complaining about how life is hard, thinking about how life is hard, talking about how life is hard. Even if life is hard you can still do something different. Change your routine. Wake up a bit earlier and read something different. Go out of your way to talk to those people who seem to see opportunity. Do research on something. Act on something. This sharpens your powers of observation. So opportunities are all around. Are you ready for them?