When you experience Success, on any level, who gets the credit? I know that is a pretty open question, but what I mean is that who do you think is responsible for the Success we each experience, whether it’s in our school, work, hobbies, play, relationships, whatever. As you may have expected I’m going to tell you what I think.
Let’s start at the beginning and build a foundation, which has become a favourite approach of mine. I want you to consider that everything we experience in our life fits into this equation – Success = Preparation + Opportunity -. Those three words, or variables as they would be called in math, can be defined in many ways. Success, for example, may be having a good time at a party, it may be getting a good mark on a test, it may be and I feel most always involves learning. Opportunities are the situations we find ourselves in, the ones we choose to be in, directly or indirectly, and the situations that just seem to happen to us. For example, this email group and this message is an Opportunity, just as those of you who respond will provide me with an Opportunity, these messages are Opportunities for us to exchange ideas and see things from another perspective, among many other things. Every situation and experience we have every day has Opportunities contained within it. What we do with those Opportunities is our own individual personal choice… and that is where the key step comes in, “Preparation”.
Preparation, I feel, is most often determined by an open mind, a desire to see the Opportunity contained within our situations and experiences. There certainly are a collection of other factors that influence our ability to see Opportunity, such as our mood, our past experiences with a given situation, experience or Opportunity, but I feel that the most significant factor contributing to or taking away from our Preparation is an open mind. If we aren’t open to seeing Opportunity it’s really hard to take advantage of it.
I really believe that we can look at any situation and see that there are Opportunities and Threats contained within it. For the business students in the group I’m sure I’m starting to sound like a Marketing Prof, but the old “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats” (SWOT) Analysis has great application in life outside business.
I will tell you that there is Opportunity in every situation, but the key step to identifying it is being Prepared to see it, being open to seeing it. When you are open to Opportunity you will be surprised at just how much of it is out there.
My main reason for writing this message today is in response to some really nice complementary emails that I have received in the past few days, and the past many months and years for that matter. The messages commented on my efforts to make a Positive impact on other’s lives, and I do make that effort, and love doing it. And I love to hear that my efforts have resulted in other’s experiencing Success with the Opportunities I provide. As that is what I do, I make the effort to provide the Opportunity for other’s to experience Success with seeing things in a new or maybe different light. But I want you to know that any Success you have with Opportunities I provide, that Success is largely due to the fact that you were Prepared for the Opportunity.
Life’s full of Opportunities, and we can’t possibly take advantage of them all, but I will tell you that the more Open and Prepared we are, the more Success and Positive experiences we’ll have. A really good friend of mine told me one time that… “the determinant of my growth, is the degree to which I’m willing to be truly open”. I look forward to continuing to provide you with Opportunities to learn about a Cancer Patient’s perspective, about some of how I view life, and about how important a Positive Attitude can be when faced with a Challenge. And I know the Success you have will be with the Opportunities you are Prepared for.
Always…
Live Life. Love Life.
Geoff
