Seizing a golden opportunity seems to be something that is not talked about in many of the success books, personal development blogs, and business seminars that are available today.   They don’t mention how important it is to be able to recognize and capture an opportunity to succeed.  As I make strides towards success in business and life, it is becoming clear to me that seizing opportunities is imperative in making those successes possible.

During an interview, Will Smith was asked how he was able to be so successful while many other actors in Hollywood still struggle.   He responded by saying,

“The main reason most actors have not seen success in this business is because they miss key opportunities.”

I would agree with Will and I would add that it isn’t just in Hollywood that people are missing opportunities.   Most people will never see their dreams come true because of the simple fact that they seem to miss opportunity when it presents itself.

I once worked for a very large company that got bought out by an even larger company.  Those of us who worked for the company had no idea what was going on and didn’t even know if we were going to have a job in the future.  The stock price of the company took a nose dive and many people lost a lot of money.  There was panic throughout the company and uncertainty was in the air.

I decided to look for opportunity amongst the mayhem.  I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the company but I did know that the stock price was extremely cheap.   I decided to buy a lot of the stock understanding that there was a small risk involved.  Before I bought my shares, I told about 6 of my co-workers that I was going to buy and that they should too.  They all were interested and said that they would buy too.

A few months later, when the panic began to die down and the merger began, the stock price skyrocketed.  I went into work expecting to high-five everyone that told me they would buy the stock when it was cheap.  But it turned out that only one of them had bought the stock.  The rest of them were too afraid to take the risk.

The truth is that my co-workers and I were in the same situation.  We were all presented with the same opportunity.  But since I seized the opportunity, I benefited.

There are many reasons why we sometimes miss opportunities.  Here are just a few.

• Fear of making the wrong decision
• Focus on the problem not the possible opportunity
• Lack of preparation
• Procrastination or hesitation
• Giving in too early

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Seizing a Golding Opportunity

Stay Ready-Getting ready for opportunities is very important but staying ready is even more vital.  Many people wait their whole lives for their golden opportunity but when it finally comes, they are not ready to receive it.  One of my favorite quotes from Thomas Edison is “Good things come to those who hustles while he waits”.  Anyone who wants to achieve great things should adopt this philosophy.

Perseverance-Being persistent means continuing to pursue your goal no matter what obstacles come your way.  Perseverance is important to seizing opportunity because it is hard to take action when you are feeling sorry for yourself.  We never know how close we are to our next big prospect.  That is why it is vital that we persist until the golden opportunity presents itself.

Lookout for Opportunities-When things happen around us it is easy to focus on what is happening as opposed to what may come of it.  One of the only ways to seize an opportunity is to see the opportunity.  When events happen in our lives, we must be able to focus on the possibilities that follow difficulties.

Be ready to Risk-In order to win, you must be willing to lose.  Most people miss golden opportunities because they are not willing to take a risk.  By taking risk, we are opening ourselves up for greater change and growth.

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”- Sir Francis Bacon

Create Your Own Opportunities-So what do you do when you seek opportunity and can’t seem to find it?  Well, you make opportunities.  Begin to be proactive in your actions.  Try changing the way you do things and monitor the results.  You may find that actions will create new- and possibly better-outcomes.

Seizing a golden opportunity can be the difference between what is and what could have been.  Are ready to seize new and greater opportunities this year?

Ralph Jean-Paul is not only committed to his own personal development, but he is also committed to the personal development of everyone he comes in contact with. This desire to see growth in himself, led him to begin to mentor others. Ralph also found his purpose when he began to speak at universities, corporations, associations and other organizations. To learn more about Ralph, please visit Potential2Success.com.

Don't be like a tiger when you're having an argument

The TV show “Two and a Half Men” is one of my favourite sitcoms. I enjoy watching even the reruns as a way of completely disconnecting and just having a great laugh. I always feel recharged after the half hour, although it’s rare that I take away any key lessons. This particularly episode was different.

In this episode Charlie Harper has to negotiate with his brother’s ex-wife Judith’s women’s group about why he is not a bad influence on his nephew, Jake. The women are up in arms that Charlie’s hedonistic lifestyle is having a bad influence on the 10 year old Jake. So Charlie walks into the lion’s den as it were, to negotiate his case. He walks into Judith’s house where there are group of ladies, all hurting from broken relationships in the past and are really looking to put the boot into Charlie. The episode is absolutely hilarious but what I learned from it was:

In times of conflict:

1. Look at the consequences of solving the conflict versus letting it blow over.

Sometimes, a confrontational situation can just blow over or can be ignored. Other times it needs to be solved. In Charlie’s case, he had to go and sort the situation out because otherwise he would not be able to see his nephew again, which is something he could not even consider. Leadership is knowing which conflicts need to be resolved and which can be ignored.

2. If the conflict needs to be faced, then face it!

Most of us prefer to run and hide whenever there is a challenge or a conflict we need to face because it is unpleasant. Well, that can often end up making the conflict situation worse. If you do not take out the weeds when they are small, they will end up taking over your garden. The same applies to conflict. I’m not talking about being someone who goes looking for a fight, but rather be someone who does not run away when the situation causes you to stand firm.

3. Don’t point score.

Many of us in conflict situations attempt to protect ourselves, our job, our reputation or just our ego by trying to prove that we’re right and the other person is wrong. However, the problem is that the other person is trying to do the same thing. As a result, the conflict only gets worse and over time, people sometimes even forget what the original cause of the conflict was. It just becomes a case of proving that you are right and the other person is wrong. Unfortunately, many marriages break up because of this one thing. If the relationship is important to you, the first step in any conflict is to shelve your ego. I’m not saying you need to allow yourself to be trodden on. I’m just saying that once you put aside your ego, you have a better chance of reaching a far better outcome for both parties.

4. Know Your Outcome:

When Charlie went in to meet the women’s group, his outcome was to make peace with them and show that he was a good influence on Jake. His outcome was not to go and prove he was right and have a good argument, although that was his first inclination. When there is an argument or a spirited debate brewing, be clear on your outcome. Have you ever got into an argument with someone and after a while you forgot what you’re arguing about but you just keep arguing? Generally, when this happens it’s because we’re just feeding our ego and trying to prove we’re right. What does that do for the relationship?

5. Be willing to see it from their side:

This is a tough one since a conflict often arises because we don’t see things in the same way as the other person. At the extreme, religious wars happen because neither side are willing to look at things from another point of view. However, it is the person who makes a genuine attempt to understand the other person’s point of view, who will be able to get the best possible outcome from any conflict. On a side note, I’ve often found that when I try and see things from another perspective, I learn more about the situation and we end up with a better outcome than if I had simply acted on my own perspective.

6. If you have made a mistake, accept it.

In today’s society where we are encouraged to shun responsibility and find someone or something else to blame, I’m suggesting you stand out from the crowd. Be the person who has the courage to accept your mistakes and you’ll be surprised at the respect you get from your peers. Sure, some people will still have a go at you but that’s because they are feeding their own security. And really, once you accept that you’ve made a mistake, what more can be said about the issue? More often than not, I’ve found that when I admit making a mistake, I go from a feeling of powerlessness to being back in control again. Admitting your mistake can also often defuse the situation and both parties can now work towards a solution. People will often forgive mistakes of the mind (where a genuine error is made) but they won’t as easily forgive mistakes of the heart (covering up the initial mistake, lieing, blaming someone else etc).

7. Be real
Again, I’m asking you here to stand out from the crowd and be true to who you really are. Accept your human frailties. Charlie does this well by first accepting how his behaviour could be a negative influence on Jake, owning up to his mistake and acknowledging the fact that he is still learning how to act around a 10 year old kid. He admits that he loves Jakes and would never do anything to harm him – and if there is anything the ladies can suggest for him to change his behaviour he would. When you are that authentic and that real, people will warm to you and they will more than likely forgive you. This is exactly what happened in the case of Charlie Harper. In fact, the ladies all ended up completely warming to Charlie and went over to his place for drinks. Now that’s conflict resolution from the expert!

So next time you get into a conflict, remember the Charlie Harper 7 step process to resolving conflicts. I guarantee that you’ll be a happier person, the people around you will be happier and if it’s in a work environment, your team will work harder to achieve things for you. Try it out and see and then let me know how you went.

If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Digg. I’d appreciate it.

In the last month, the world has lost two young souls who had the world at their feet. Brittany Murphy known for such films as “8 Mile” and for being the voice behind Gloria on “Happy Feet” passed away on December 20, 2009 at the age of 32. Her film career was starting to blossom and she was ready to take the world by storm – and yet she is now longer with us.

Casey Johnson was the heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune and could have done almost whatever she wanted to with her life. And yet, she too is now longer with us, passing away at the young age of just 30.

From this, we see just how fragile life is. Many people live life as if we can delay our dreams and delay taking the actions that will bring us everything we want in life. We live life taking the people we care about for granted, never realising that tomorrow it could all be over. By no means am I suggesting that you become morbid about life – rather I believe we need to appreciate life and make the best of every single day that we have. Life is just too short to be playing at less than our potential or to be taking things for granted.

One of my mentors told me to constantly connect with my mortality. After all, it is a fact that one day we will no longer be here. So live each day as if it was your last but plan as if you will live forever. Getting that balance right is key to a fulfilled, happy and successful life.

Start by being grateful for the good things in your life and start by showing the people who are important to you just how much you care. Also, have a look at your life right now – is it in balance? Are you spending your time in line with what is most important to you? If not, why not? Are you too busy running around being busy that you have forgotten to live the life of your design? It’s easy to say that we’re busy – in fact people are busier today than ever before. But remember, one day this will all come to an end and when you are in your last few moments of your life, will you look back and have preferred to spend extra time in your cubicle at work or extra time with the people you care about? Would you have preferred to have spent more time looking at the walls of your office or exploring the world?

Remember life is short! Attack it with everything you’ve got – go for your dreams. After all, you’re not going to get out of this thing alive. The only question is – how long do you have? And that’s anyone’s guess. So don’t put your dreams off! Start living today as if today was your last day on earth but then plan to live forever because you could be around for a while yet

Remember, when you came into this world, you were crying and everyone was happy. When your final moments come, make sure you live your life in a way that you are smiling and everyone else is crying. Live your life such that the impact of it outlasts you.

To living your best life,

Niro Thambipillay

PS: If you want some assistance with how to get more done each day and have the time to spend on the things that matter to you so you can live your dreams, then sign up below for my 5 Essentials to Peak Performance Video training series where I’ll show you:

• How to double your productivity so you can get twice as much done in a day.
• How to reduce the amount of stress you experience each day by half.
• How to reduce the impact of distractions and interruptions by 70%
• How to finally have the time to work on the things that matter to you, rather than constantly trying to fulfil everyone else’s expectations.
• How to enjoy greater feelings of inner peace and contentment every single day.

Just give me your name and email address below and I’ll give you instant access to the first video!

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Happy New Year! It is the start of a new year, the start of a new decade. What a great opportunity to make a fresh start! Make this year your greatest yet! Remember, to achieve something you have never achieved before, you need to do something you have never done before and to do something you have never done before you need to be someone you have never been before. Who do you need to be in order to achieve what you want from life this year?

For me to achieve my goals and dreams, I need to be someone who is organised, disciplined and focused. What about you?

Below is a short video from me wishing you all the best for 2010 and showing a brief highlights package from my vantage point at the Sydney 2010 NYE Fireworks. I hope you enjoy it and let me leave you with a final message:

Remember in life, change is automatic but progress is not. Make sure that you are make progress this year by setting yourself a worthy goal, getting a mentor and joining a great network of like minded people who can keep you on track.

To 2010 – the greatest year of your life!

Niro

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It is an overused quote that the difference between the rich and the poor is that the rich think differently. However, it is true. In this short video, I talk about a great quote from the late Jim Rohn that typifies how the rich think differently. This quote took me from struggling to pay my bills to a six figure income and so I hope you get some great value from this 3 minute video.

If you liked the video, please leave me a comment below and then sign up for my newsletter so I can send you more great content.

To your success,

Niro

In this 3 minute video, I share some advice that I recently learned that I wish I’d known before I started some of my past failed entrepreneurial ventures. This advice could have easily saved me personally and my business partners hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. So take the time to watch the video and then please leave me a comment below.

Note: Please don’t dispel this wisdom just because it seems so simple – often the greatest advice we can ever receive is simple.

If you enjoyed this video, please leave me a comment below and subscribe to my newsletter so I can share more of this sort of content with you.

Yours in gratitude,

Niro

The world lost another great soul this week with the passing of one of the father’s of Personal Development – Jim Rohn. This year we have lost a few legends, Michael Jackson in the world of music, Patrick Swayze in the world of acting and now Jim Rohn.

I remember when I first came across this legend – I was reading a book about how to make money in property and the author had, as his first chapter, an excert about success from Jim Rohn. I don’t remember learning anything about property investing from that book but I’m still grateful I came across the book because I came across Jim Rohn – and he started affecting me with principles that I’d never heard of.

I remember some years later attending a Tony Robbins conference which was life altering in many ways – and I was stunned to hear that Jim Rohn was the “big man’s” first mentor. This week, Robbins along with anyone else involved with personal development is mourning the loss of a great soul. In honour of his passing, I have included one of my favourite videos and then some of the quotes that have impacted me the most below:

Some of Jim Rohn’s Quotes that have had a great impact on me – and my comments

“Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion” – So many times we affirm something, we say we are going to lose weight, we say we are going to start the business, we say we are going to inject more passion into our relationship… and yet a few days, weeks or months later, the inspiration is gone, the desire dead. Why? It’s because to achieve anything requires discipline. Discipline to work out, discipline to say no to the chocolate cake, discipline to make those phone calls every day, discipline to email your list, discipline to practise your presentation. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. Yet many of us are unwilling and that is why for many of us, our dreams will remain just that, dreams that were never realised.

Don’t bring your need to the marketplace, bring your skill. If you don’t feel well, tell your doctor, but not the marketplace. If you need money, go to the bank, but not the marketplace.

This quote is what changed my business completely – from struggling to successful. For years, I could not understand why people would not give me money when I was struggling. I felt I was a good person and I deserved a break – so why wouldn’t anybody give me one? Then I realised that I needed to bring my skill to the marketplace. Once I realised that I went to work on developing my skills and then selling my skills – and the moment I started doing that my whole life changed. Money came but more importantly, I started to enjoy life a lot more. Life is definitely more enjoyable when you are working on your passions and skills everyday. What skills could you work on to increase your income?

Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.

Whenever I feel like complaining, I remind myself of this quote. We cannot control the strength of the struggle, we can only improve our only strength and skill. So when things out there got tough, I stopped complaining and instead I started to work harder on myself. The harder things got, the harder I worked on me and eventually the struggles disappeared but my new found skills did not. In fact, by working on me to overcome my struggles, I became a far greater person of value than if it had not been for my struggles. As someone said, Golliath was the greatest thing that happened to David. Without him, David was just a shepherd boy but with Golliath, David became a Giant Slayer. What struggle are you complaining about that you could instead use as motivation to become someone greater than you thought possible?

IT is not too expensive. The problem is YOU cannot afford it.

This quote was like a complete kick up the backside for me! It was true! Somebody could afford “it” (whatever “it” was at the time) – I just had to become one of those people. Again, time to stop complaining and get into action. When people started complaing about house prices being too high, I realised that it was not the fault of the houses. The houses did not choose their prices. It was my fault for not being able to afford it – after all I could change, I could grow. As Mr Rohn said, “If you don’t like your situation, change it! You’re not a tree!”

There can be no new life without labour

“Ask any mother,” Mr Rohn said when I had the pleasure of hearing him live one evening in Sydney, Australia. He said, “Nature has all the wisdom we’ll ever need, if we’ll listen”. I am still trying to listen And hopefully I’m getting a little better but I do know that nothing we want will ever be achieved without hard work. However, with hard work, discipline and some education, over time there is nothing we cannot achieve – Absolutely NOTHING!

Thank you for sharing your philosophy with us Mr Rohn – R.I.P

(If you have been impacted by Mr Rohn or you have a favourite quote of his, please share your thoughts with me by leaving a comment below and let’s all build the legacy of the legend that was Jim Rohn)