Look for Opportunities, Not Excuses

Before you can see an opportunity or anything for that matter, you must be looking.

It’s important to know that opportunities don’t just happen. You must MAKE them happen. Making them happen requires effort—action—on your part.

You must first begin with a STRATEGY that supports your goal. Your strategy is a plan you develop that takes advantage of opportunities that suit your unique skillset, desire, or purpose. This approach puts you in the best position to SEE your opportunity when it emerges.

Once again, before you can SEE an opportunity, you must be looking.  As obvious as this advice may seem, most people have to be reminded to LOOK. Looking is an action word that compels you to do much more than to simply open your eyes. It requires you to become actively involved in the search for opportunities by paying attention to the indicators that lead to your opportunity. Because, as we know all too well, OPPORTUNITY is not always blatantly obvious.

Develop a curious nature if you don’t already have one. Curiosity opens the aperture of life to include EVERYTHING happening around us at any given moment. People who NOTICE things KNOW more than people who don’t. They know because they DISCOVER things most others do not.

Also, it’s important to know WHAT you’re looking for and WHY you desire it. Be certain to be specific in terms of WHAT you’re looking for. Specificity brings clarity to the forefront and provides you with something you can sink your teeth into.

Therefore, define SPECIFICALLY what you are looking for. If it’s a business opportunity, define the business. Describe it. Is it a service? Is it tangible? WHO does it serve? What are the demographics? What must you learn or begin DOING to attract the opportunity into your life?

WHO do you need to reach out to? The old adage that “Contacts equal contracts…” apply here. The more people you know, the more opportunities will come your way. And remember, your next opportunity may likely be with someone you DON’T already know. So, networking is important.

Eliminate excuses.

Opportunity is ALWAYS present. Once you start looking, your old excuses will lose their foothold and drop to the wayside as you begin seeing ideas and trends just begging for you to adopt them.

So, develop a habit of looking at everything to see how you can improve it, how you can make it more fun, faster, friendlier, easier, quieter, lighter, more exciting, more inviting or more of an experience that’ll be remembered.

Take advantage of opportunities that benefit others and your life will change as a result.

You can do this…as long as you…

Look for OPPORTUNITIES, Not Excuses.

Until next time...

- G -

"Opportunities are just beyond the horizon, waiting for you to discover them." ~ G. Westfal 

-----------------------

If you'd like to receive a notification anytime I publish a new article (currently about once per month), visit my Facebook page: G. Gary Westfal, Author

Once there, click on "G-Life! Magazine" in the left column.  You'll then be subscribed and will receive a notification whenever I publish a new article or provide updates to my books or appearances.  

If you like this post, please recommend it to others!

-----------------------

COMING SOON!

Your Ultimate Guide to 

Setting and Achieving 

Every Goal You Can Imagine

“Gary Westfal rolls-up everything I have learned in a 40-year military career about Strategic Action Planning in one book.”

Lieutenant General Bradley Heithold, USAF (retired)

Coming in the Spring of 2020

-----------------------

333The Power of Equilibrium

"A powerful book that provides an interesting

 cross-section of three different points of view for 

the balance of body, mind, and spirit."

~ Amazon Reader Feedback

Get your copy of this insightful book

on Amazon.com TODAY!

Available Now!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Get your copy of Gary's best-selling novel 

Dream Operative, 

 NOW AVAILABLE 

on Audible.com!

FEAR Is a Thief is on Amazon.com 
and is NOW AVAILABLE on Audible.com too! This inspiring book is the first in a self-empowerment series that was written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life. 
Get your copy today at FEAR Is a Thief/Amazon.

Also be sure to check out: KEY HORIZON, the second novel in the G. Weston spy series. This thriller is receiving rave reviews across the spectrum and has captivated a new following of "spy-fi" readers. 

Order your copy of these exciting novels today at Amazon.com

Educate Yourself

With so many demands competing for your attention these days, it’s no wonder you have so little time to educate yourself outside of a traditional or formal curriculum. However, it is because of these very same demands that a new educational focus has emerged, allowing you to leverage what little time remains of your day to informally educate yourself, thanks, in large part, to the Internet. With the practice of self-education, the future is right where it belongs—in your hands.

Master motivator and business philosopher, Jim Rohn, famously quoted, tells us that…

“FORMAL education will help you make a living while…

SELF-education will make you a fortune.”

The premise of this quote was never meant to disparage the value of a formal education, but instead to stress the targeted impact and effect self-education has on a specific objective, achievement, or outcome.

Self-education has become an equalizer to those who see formal education as too rigid, out of date, or irrelevant to the attainment of their goals. It has also become a method to leverage formal education curriculums and credentials.

Don’t get me wrong, formal education has its place. But even formal education oftentimes comes with a mandate to keep up with the changes, updates, and advancements through a continual education process (formal or informal) to remain relevant and knowledgeable.

Coming from a formal education background, I can attest to the merits of a formal education from many perspectives. But to discount or deny the effect of a self-education is akin to looking at the world through a straw—there is so much more out there to see and experience.

Think about it. If you happen to have a bachelor’s degree in marketing and advertising, having say, an additional skill or ability to manipulate Photoshop tools would give you an edge in the marketplace as well. But, what if all you need from Photoshop is an ability to make minor adjustments to images and photos to enhance your marketing and advertising? You don’t need a fully-credentialed formal certification for that. A YouTube session or two would most likely be all you’d need to self-educate and meet your objective.

Self-education can also help you to take a critical first step toward success with the knowledge and insight you need to compete in the space you seek. As liberating as self-education sounds, however, it will require something of you that you may not be initially prepared for.

You’ll need the DISCIPLINE to follow a schedule and to procure the right resources to ensure you educate yourself correctly and efficiently. But there are ways to mitigate the cons and accentuate the pros.

Here are four quick, but useful, useful tips for you to do just that…

Start with something you enjoy

If your self-education starts with excuses, you are in the wrong lane. Re-align yourself with your purpose or passion and then move ahead. Teaching yourself to learn a particular skill requires your commitment. You are more likely to commit to something you enjoy over something you don’t.

Enlist an accountability partner

Because self-education requires your unwavering devotion to consistency, it may help to hire a coach or someone who will keep you on track. Remember, consistency rules the day whether you’re starting something new or you’re looking for results in personal development, business, and unique skillsets. If you are one of the few who has a high dose of self-discipline, this may not apply to you. But it should be something you keep in mind if and when you notice the need.

Test yourself

Find ways to put your knowledge into practice. Don’t fear mistakes. Mistakes are part of the learning process. Learn from them and move ahead.

Commit to lifelong learning

We are ALWAYS learning. Your ability to embrace lifelong learning is critical to your growth and success. The dream life you desire might just be one book away, one podcast away, or one skill away. Be curious. Never stop learning and you will inevitably get where you desire to be.

Until next time...

- G -

"Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think."  ~ Albert Einstein

-----------------------

If you'd like to receive a notification anytime I publish a new article (currently about once per month), visit my Facebook page: G. Gary Westfal, Author

Once there, click on "G-Life! Magazine" in the left column.  You'll then be subscribed and will receive a notification whenever I publish a new article or provide updates to my books or appearances.  

If you like this post, please recommend it to others!

-----------------------

COMING SOON!

Your Ultimate Guide to 

Setting and Achieving 

Every Goal You Can Imagine

“Gary Westfal rolls-up everything I have learned in a 40-year military career about Strategic Action Planning in one book.”

Lieutenant General Bradley Heithold, USAF (retired)

Coming in the Spring of 2020

-----------------------

333The Power of Equilibrium

"A powerful book that provides an interesting

 cross-section of three different points of view for 

the balance of body, mind, and spirit."

~ Amazon Reader Feedback

Get your copy of this insightful book

on Amazon.com TODAY!

Available Now!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Get your copy of Gary's best-selling novel 

Dream Operative, 

 NOW AVAILABLE 

on Audible.com!

FEAR Is a Thief is on Amazon.com 
and is NOW AVAILABLE on Audible.com too! This inspiring book is the first in a self-empowerment series that was written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life. 
Get your copy today at FEAR Is a Thief/Amazon.

Also be sure to check out: KEY HORIZON, the second novel in the G. Weston spy series. This thriller is receiving rave reviews across the spectrum and has captivated a new following of "spy-fi" readers. 

Order your copy of these exciting novels today at Amazon.com

Fall in Love with the Process...and Find Yourself Along the Way

Philosophy 101 tells us that, if we want to get anything done, we must first actually do something. Seems simple enough. If you’re not actually moving in the direction you intend for your life, you can be sure of only one thing—you’ll never get to your intended destination. But what if we don’t actually like what we have to do to reach our objective? Well, the short answer is that we will likely fail. I could end this article right here because the point of the matter is that nothing gets done without action. But you already know that. What you may not know is why it becomes so difficult to get things done when you’re faced with the less-than-desirable tasks required to effect real and meaningful change in your life.

It’s fair to say that most people who follow a process with regularity are the same ones who produce results. What makes them so different? I mean, how do they get through the drudgery of following the process when tasks become chores, obligations become burdens, and details become overwhelming? After all, these people have lives just like us…or do they? 

We have all seen the attractive slogans and overly simplistic and alluring catch phrases promising a path to a better life: Enjoy a higher standard of living; Make more money the easy way; Your path to riches; Do whatever it takes, etc. Even I have written articles designed to teach people the fundamentals to success and goal achievement. 

We’re all attracted by headlines. After all, they hold so much promise for…seemingly so little work. The trick is to get past the headlines and into the actual process to truly see what it takes for change take place. Headlines aside, if you actually follow through with the advice, philosophies, and instructions in most of these articles, you’ll find a prescription where you too can absolutely achieve anything you desire. Why then do we seem to get stuck when it comes to following the process? Because, candidly, most of us don’t typically care for the work part…unless we actually do. Which brings us to the real point. 

What separates most experts and achievers from everyone else is the level of commitment they provide to their goals. These are the people who choose productivity over leisure, delayed gratification over immediate reward, and education over television. They are also the ones who stay up late and get up early to squeeze out a just little more time to devote to their dreams, goals, and objectives. So, how (and why) do these people do it when most others don’t? Are they more motivated, determined, committed, or just plain maniacal? While some people may, in fact, possess some of these traits to reach a certain level of success, nearly all of them profess to an experience of enjoyment they find in doing the things that bring them closer to their goal. 

“When you enjoy a task, you will always find happiness in what you do.” ~ G. Westfal

Seldom is hard work associated with happiness, unless you are properly aligned with your purpose. The closer we are aligned to our purpose—that which truly makes us happy—the more joy we will discover in the work we do, the journey, and the path that leads to the fulfillment of that purpose. As we come to understand the message in a purposeful alignment, we begin to free ourselves, and we begin to allow ourselves to interact with the world around us with greater success, joy, and fulfillment. 

Another reason you may have such a difficult time finding joy in the process is that far too many of you do things to please other people. Opinions should never matter more than your purpose—your reason for doing things. Newsflash! The only opinion that should ever matter is your opinion. If you allow someone else’s opinion to shape your life, then you are not living your life at all. You’re living theirs!  

It's time to stop sabotaging yourself with your aversions to work by first finding that which you truly desire to do. Once you find something that ignites your passion, you’ll be in a position to do whatever it takes to accomplish your goal, your mission, your objective, your purpose. Only then will you find joy in committing to the process of finding meaning and fulfillment in your quest become everything you are meant to be. If you’re aligned with your purpose you will find a way to fall in love with the process. After all, it is the process that ignites the progress and momentum leading to the ultimate realization of your dreams, goals, and aspirations. 

Until next time…

~ G ~

“It all begins with the first step. Follow the process.” ~ 
G. Westfal

-----------------------

333

The Power of Equilibrium

"A powerful book that provides an interesting

 cross-section of three different points of view for 

the balance of body, mind, and spirit."

~ Amazon Reader Feedback

Get your copy of this insightful book

on Amazon.com TODAY!

Available Now!

***********

Step into the mind of Author Luc Vors.

"Keep producing things, great or small, and you will find that your 

creative mind will blossom with more and more ideas." 

***********

Check out the wise, knowledgeable, and often entertaining perspectives of Author Elisabeth Auld inside the editions of

 Gals in Blue.

************

Check out our new affiliate partner, J. Jane, a fascinating blog of mentorship for, by, and between women.

j. jane 

-------------------------------------------------------------

Get your copy of Gary's best-selling novel 

Dream Operative, 

 NOW AVAILABLE 

on Audible.com!

FEAR Is a Thief is on Amazon.com 
and is NOW AVAILABLE on Audible.com too! This inspiring book is the first in a self-empowerment series that was written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life. 
Get your copy today at FEAR Is a Thief/Amazon.

Also be sure to check out: KEY HORIZON, the second novel in the G. Weston spy series. This thriller is receiving rave reviews across the spectrum and has captivated a new following of "spy-fi" readers. 

Order your copy of these exciting novels today at Amazon.com.