I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's newest book Outliers. And I believe it confirms something that many of us have known for a while now. That a person's success is not simply based on their ability and/or willingness to work hard, it is more dependent upon them being given the opportunity to work hard. Without exception every successful person you can think of is not only a product of their own hard work and intelligence, but a product of a series of opportunities to work hard that they were given and took advantage of.
I think that we are all given opportunities to be great during our lifetime (some of us get more opportunities than others) the question is do we recognize and take advantage of them or let them pass us by. Chance meetings in elevators. Surprise phone calls from old colleagues. Finding old friends on Facebook. The opportunities we are waiting for may be staring us in the face and we just aren't aware enough to take advantage of it.
My challenge to you is to look at your past and count the missed opportunities. People you went to high school with that are now successful but you never took the time to build a friendship with. Opportunities participate in events that were attended by people you needed to meet, but you opted not to go. Then I challenge you to look at everyday through that same lens. Are you taking advantage of all the opportunities sent your way?
- Hustle Harder
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