THE VALUE OF WOULDA, COULDA, SHOULDA? ZERO

"Opportunity always looks better going than coming."

Unknown.

Like the horse you didn't expect to win, the one you didn't bet on that actually did.

Or the investment you didn't make and now realize you should have.

The trick is not to identify missed opportunity.

You need to identify opportunity before it actually is opportunity.

IN THE AVOIDANCE OF REGRETS

"Four things come not back. The spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, the neglected opportunity."

Arabian proverb

There's little you can do about a misspent past life, other than committing to not repeat past mistakes, including words you wished you'd never spoke, emotional and maybe physical harm you wished you'd never done.

The most difficult to do is taking advantage of opportunity, starting with recognizing what it is and what it is not. 

FEAR THE OPPORTUNISTIC SNAKE

"There is far more opportunity than there is ability."

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) American inventor.

For you as well.

Seize the moment but only those you are ready and capable of handling.

The fact that you can also seize a boa constrictor doesn't mean you should.

DON'T OVERLOOK THE OBVIOUS

"Your big opportunity may be right where you are now."

Napoleon Hill (1883-1970) American speaker/motivational writer.

Be ever aware of the possibility of advancement, understanding it may be where you are, not where you think you should be.

OPPORTUNITY WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT IT

"Let your hook always be cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be a fish."

Ovid (BC 43-AD 18) Roman poet

How much opportunity have you missed because you decided it wouldn't be where it actually was?

Big "wins" come infrequently, never if you aren't looking for them.

REGRETTING NEVER OPENED DOORS

"Footfalls echo in the memory down the passage which we did not take towards the door we never opened into the rose-garden."

T. S. Eliot

Late 19th/20th century American-English poet/playwright

You can't always know which doors open to rose gardens but you will never know if you never open any of them.

REVOLUTIONARY THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES

"A great revolution is never the fault of the people, but of the government."

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Late 18th/early 19th century German poet, novelist, dramatist

In business "government" is management.

And take heart; "revolutions" can lead to good as well as bad.

Don't fear them, plan for them.

Neither Bad Nor Good

"Every moment of light and dark is a miracle."

Walt Whitman

19th century American poet

Yes, if you let them be so.

If you learn as much from the bad times as you enjoy the good.

No Time Like The Present!

"Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; adversity not without many comforts and hopes."

Francis Bacon

16th century British statesman

We are ever so slowly emerging from extremely difficult economic times and with that comes a lot of cautious business people who say they are waiting for things to improve before once again spending to grow their business.

Waiting for what?

As Mr. Bacon says, there is bad in all good, and good in all bad.

Get on with it!

Work Hard To Be Lucky

"Rise early, work hard, strike oil."

J. Paul Getty

This is Mr. Getty's prescription for success. In other words, never discount the importance of luck.

But it is the first two that increase the chances of the third ever happening. I would change "strike oil" or "luck" to "create opportunity".

Whatever it is you make or do, do you include attempting to create opportunity as part of your efforts?

Maybe you should.

The Future: When You Know . . . It No Longer Is

"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next."

Ursula Kroeber Le Guin
Author

Like it or not, relatively little is known for certain and nothing we "know" is forever, and in that there is opportunity.

Are you focused on what you don't know or what you soon will?

The answer suggests a lot about your future.

Attitude: Finding the Silver Lining

"Being pushed to the wall, gives you the momentum you need to get over it."

Written and contributed by Peter de Jager
Speaker/Writer/Consultant

I can think of times when seemingly insurmountable obstacles turned out to be on pathways to new success. If I had accepted them as insurmountable, they would have been.

As General O.P. Smith said in 1950 at Chosin Reservoir, Korea . . .

"Retreat hell! We're attacking in a different direction!"