Seek out and act upon opportunities
By Debbie Allen, Rights Reserved

If you prepare yourself, you will be able to grasp opportunity for broader experience when it appears.  
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Success building opportunities are all around you.  Sometimes you see them and sometimes you don't.  The difference between a successful self-promoter and someone that lacks the skills is that they have better eyesight.  They see the opportunities while others let them pass right by going completely unnoticed.

To improve your opportunity awareness and eyesight, you must be active in seeking out opportunities for your growth and success everyday.  Stay open-minded to the possibilities.  This skill and awareness must be with you at all times. 

What is an opportunity?
A chance, a break, an occasion for celebration. To refer to a favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances.  Chance often implies an opportunity that arises through luck or by accident. 

Often successful people hear the words - You are so lucky, everything you touch turns to gold! While the less fortunate feel that they will never get a lucky break.  In addition, they feel that they will never be as successful unless they win the lotto. The lotto may not be a very realistic option, but having opportunities in front of you for success and happiness are.   

If you feel you will never be successful or will ever get that lucky break, unfortunately you are right.  Success and opportunity seeking begins with a positive state of mind and a strong belief system in yourself and your abilities. 

Your first big break may need to come from inside of you.  We all can be hard on ourselves at times and can tend to distrust our own true abilities to succeed.  As we begin to trust ourselves personally and magnify our beliefs we tend to open ourselves up to an endless stream of opportunities.

With successful opportunities comes risk.  To be truly successful you will have to take chances and risks along the way.  Don't worry about failing, failure is just a lesson you needed to learn along that journey.  Learn from your mistakes, pick yourself up and move on again.

Those things that don't kill us make us strong. - Anoynmous  

Another awareness for seeking opportunities is to know that they often come in disguise. You may not notice them because they don't fit into your business focus or planned goals at the time.  Begin to become more aware of those hidden opportunities that your competition may be missing.

Five Steps Towards Your Next Successful Opportunity:

1. Build a stronger opportunity awareness around you.
2. Trust in yourself, your beliefs and abilities.
3. Take risks and ACT upon great opportunities.
4. If you fail, pick yourself up and move on. 
5. Be aware of opportunities in disguise. 

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Bio: Debbie Allen is one of the world’s leading authorities on sales and marketing.  She is the author of five books including Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters and Skyrocketing Sales.  Debbie has helped thousands of people around the world attract customers like crazy with her innovative, no-cost marketing strategies and secrets to sales success.  Her expertise has been featured in Entrepreneur, Selling Power and Sales & Marketing Excellence.  Sign up for her FREE 6-week e-Course Business Success Secrets Revealed ($97 value) and take the online business card quiz to rate your marketing online now at www.DebbieAllen.com.