Can you hear the Knock of Opportunity?
By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP®, Chief Cheetah and Founder of Cheetah Learning

**Use promotion code OppKnocks2011 to get $300 off Cheetah’s 20 PDU Course,
Effective PM Practices - www.cheetahpm.com** 

“Knock knock!
          Who's There?
Opportunity.
                   Opportunity Who?
Does it Matter? Just Open Up!”

Sometimes you have to be completely silent in order to hear it. Turn off the news reporting the disaster of the moment, quiet your mind from the everyday worries and problems, tune out the negative comments of coworkers and friends, and just… listen. Do you hear the soft knocking? Open up, opportunity has something to show you.

Many times we can race through our lives, thinking that opportunity will smack us in the face when the time is right. We live in a time of LOUDness- loud music, loud cars, loud neighbors. Sometimes opportunity doesn’t knock loudly though, and there is no smack in the face. Rather it whispers, alludes, or insinuates. It lightly knocks, instead of banging down your door. If you are too busy caught up in the chaos of life, you can miss it in a beat.

Learn to recognize opportunity. In order to seize opportunity, you must first recognize it. That is difficult if you are looking for opportunity in only one shape or form. Lets say that you are trying to increase your salary, and are frustrated that the fruits of your efforts have not resulted in any extra moola. Instead of being aggravated, take a step back to see what other opportunities are available to you.

Perhaps your company has professional development money sitting idle that could be used to enhance your skills sets, thus resulting in an increased salary. Alternately, if you aren’t receiving the compensation that you desire at your current organization, look into another company for a more appetizing offer- you can always take that offer, or renegotiate your current situation using that offer.  If you need an increased salary to buy a service, considering bartering your skills in order to receive that service (i.e. I’ll help you manage your project if you give me guitar lessons). 

Manage Fear, don’t let fear manage you.  The universe is oozing with opportunities of every shape and form every day! What blinds us to many of these is fear. Fear of change, fear of failing, and even fear of success.  It can be hard to not be afraid in a world that feeds on fear stories.

Just turn on the news, and you might immediately be afraid to even leave your house. The reality is, we don’t have control over what happens “out there”, we can only control how we react to it. When others are focused on negativity, find the positive aspects in any situation. When you choose freedom over fear, every time, you will open yourself up to opportunities.

Make it Happen!  When one door closes, find a window, and jump head first out of it.  Humans are more resourceful than we give ourselves credit for. What would have happened if when first tried to light a fire and realized that rubbing two rocks together did not work, we just gave up? The world would be a very different place. Find your two sticks that you need to make your opportunity fire roar, and be open to the form that this opportunity comes in. When one opportunity doesn’t provide the outcome that you desire, try and try again.

Utilize Your Resources.  What resources are available to you? When I ask this question, don’t immediately look into your bank account to see what funds you have. Think outside the monetary box.  To really benefit from the resources available to you, be aware of all your sources of capital, which include: social (your relationships), brand (your reputation and credentials), knowledge (skills, talents, and experiences), and infrastructure (assets you have to help you achieve your goals).

By quietly listening for the opportunities in your life, and learning to recognize them in all their different forms, you can find plenty of avenues for self-improvement. Once you've found one, don't be afraid to go for it! Manage your fear to open your mind.  Use all five of your sources of capital, be resourceful and apply good project management skills and you can build any life you can dream.

**Use promotion code OppKnocks2011 to get $300 off Cheetah’s 20 PDU Course,
Effective PM Practices - www.cheetahpm.com** 

About the Author:
 
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, is an entrepreneurial powerhouse with a penchant for making success easy, fun and fast.  She is the founder of Cheetah Learning, the author of the Cheetah Success Series, and a prolific blogger whose mission is to bring Project Management to the masses.

Cheetah Learning is a virtual company with 100 employees, contractors, and licensees worldwide. To date, more than 30,000 people have become “Cheetahs” using Cheetah Learning’s innovative Project Management and accelerated learning techniques. 

Recently honored by the Project Management Institute (PMI®), Cheetah Learning was named Professional Development Provider of the Year at the 2008 PMI® Global Congress.  A dynamic keynote speaker and industry thought leader, Michelle was previously recognized by PMI as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management in the world.

Michelle’s articles have appeared in over 100 publications and web sites around the world. Her monthly column, the Know How Network is carried by over 400 publications, and her monthly newsletter goes out to more than 50,000 people. 

She is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Owner President Manager’s (OPM) program and also holds engineering degrees from Syracuse University   and the University of Dayton. 

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