Opportunity gets you in the door, however it is your talent, skill, and hard-work that will keep you there.

Many mistakenly believe that  success rests totally on your talent, skill, and work ethic. This is an absolute untruth. Success and achievement is not always about what you know.  Out of the 7.3 billion  people inhabiting this vast planet, one must readily understand that there are many people with comparable or even greater talent, skill, and work ethic. These factors alone are not guarantees for success. Rather, success is heavily dependent upon opportunity. Either you create your own opportunity or you must wait  for people to give you one.

Talent (skill) + Hard work + Opportunity = Success

If one is missing any component of the formula the odds of success are improbable.

Opportunity is significant

Opportunity is not so much about who you know, but 80% of opportunity is derived from who know’s you.

This  depresses many to know, that despite years of intense effort and tremendous talent they cannot get a leg up. People are subjective beings who rely on  how they feel, how you make them feel, and who  they know.This is what makes the world seem so unfair.

Unless you create your own opportunities you must depend on someone else to give you one.

Create your opportunity make this knowledge work for you.

Networking

Networking is “the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business”.  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/networking

It is the conscious act of building relationships and leveraging those relationships so they can work for you.

How does one learn to Network

• Become a people person (Study people and their interactions).
• Take a class in  human behaviorism; behavioral psychology, or pick  up books in this subject matter.
•  Learn how to communicate effectively; take a class in public speaking, take on small speaking engagements,  speak publicly whenever given the opportunity (never shy away from an opportunity).
• Learn to connect with people (find common interest,  share knowledge, share information, and take interest in the lives of others).
• Learn the art of conversation (Learn listening skills and how to give feedback).

How does one Network

• Join social groups and clubs of like-minded people (interest groups, book clubs, community clubs, social media groups, Linked In etc…)
• Get to know people at your employ, civic organizations, community groups

Read (the more you know, the more you grow, and the more you have to share)

An excellent read is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie