Inspiraelevation

All you need is an opportunity just one opportunity!

However, opportunities are not always limitless.

Opportunities are not always blatant.

Thus, you must always be ready.

You must stay read up, fueled up, so that you can be in a position to level up.

When the opportunity does come and you are hesitant, or unsure don’t be afraid to investigate or research it.

Ask questions!

Remember the only wrong question is the one that goes unasked.

It is true that not everything is for you. That is why you must know what you are good at.

You must understand your skills and abilities.

You must know your limitations.

You must have the passion to drive your pursuit or else the opportunity will be useless to you.

However, when a door opens walk through it.

If it is a window climb through it.

Heaven forbid it is just a crack, then squeeze through it.

Whatever you do, do not turn down an opportunity unless you are sure that it’s not for you. You never know where it will take you.

That is why the story of Alexander Hamilton is so inspiring.

His life may have been flawed, but whose is not.

However, his grit and tenacity is something worth emulating. He took advantage of the opportunities before him and at times created his own.

He rose up from where he was to something greater, to a position that probably could have never been imagined for him.

“Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have lies in this; when I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort that I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.” ― Alexander Hamilton

He did not, “throw away his shot.”

He stayed read up, fueled up, so that he could level up given an opportunity.

We must too be as Lin Manuel penned Hamilton,

“I am not throwing away my shot! I am not throwing away my shot! Hey yo, I’m just like my country I’m young, scrappy and hungry And I’m not throwing away my shot!

Do not throw away an opportunity unless, you know with absolute certainty that its not for you. And, please do not try to squeeze into a place that you cannot fit or, the entire time that you occupy that space, it will be excruciatingly uncomfortable.

This is because; you will be occupying someone else’s space while the position actually meant for you will go to someone else.

Stay hungry, and don’t throw away your shot.

Sometimes to get to a point of elevation you must remove yourself from a position of degradation. 

You, have to know your worth, value, and what you bring to a role or position.

 You cannot let others determine your value for you. Many will try  to devalue you, to create a false sense of value in themselves. This is where comparison becomes extremely volatile.

 Do not use others as your yardstick, the measurement for measuring your worth.

 The assessment will always come out wrong. 

You, are your own yardstick!

No one has the unique blend of experiences, skill sets, or talents that you have. Therefore, using others to determine your value is doing yourself a disservice. 

You may want to research how others got where you want to be. 

You may want to look at others to determine your marketability (whether others will invest in what you have to offer, given your polish). 

However, never look to others to determine your actual worth. 

Be sure not to overvalue yourself.

 Whether what you say you can do, is in actual alignment with your capabilities, is the basis of integrity. 

Over inflating your value can slow down progressive achievement. People are less likely to trust or extend opportunities to those who don’t have the skills, experience, or talent to match their valuation.

However, when you do determine your worth; let no one undersell you on that. Make sure others are informed, and that they treat or compensate you accordingly. When you begin to build or improve always use your baseline assessment as your marker for improvement.

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” -William Faulkner 

Living a life of gratitude is essential. It is a well known fact that like attracts like.

Remember the  adage, birds of a feather flock together

The same ideology applies here. 

We attract what we put out, our creative potential is like magnets. 

An attitude of gratitude displays an abundance mindset.  When you express gratitude you are saying that what you have is plenty, you cherish it, and it serves you well. Therefore there is no lack!

This type of thinking creates within you a spirit of contentment. It opens you up to receive more of the same. 

Think of it this way, if you feel you live in lack,  then you will act as if you never have enough. Thus your behaviors will not be sufficient to drive you to accumulate more than what you currently have. 

You will have created within yourself a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your cyclic behavior will lend you to draw to yourself more of the same

Remember as a man thinketh, so he is.

If you think you operate in abundance you will act in accordance. 

You will engage in behaviors that sustain as well as create more of what you possess, or claim to possess. 

Thus, you will create opportunities for you to receive more. 

I implore you to develop your spirit of gratitude. Develop an abundance mindset. Let your change in thinking move you to greater opportunities and possibilities, possibilities you never would have thought imaginable.

Wayne Dyer once stated, “ You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intentions, and your intentions create your reality!”

Most people never get off the ground because they are waiting for the perfect time.

They are waiting for all the funds to be in place.

They are waiting for permission.

 They are waiting for peer approval and agreement.

The sad thing is, there will never be a perfect moment.

We live in an imperfect world.

 We are imperfect people.

Opportunity does not wait for anyone.  You have to step out.  You have to exercise  faith. You have to believe in yourself and in your dream enough to just do it.

You have to do it afraid.

Just as I am doing this right now.

I do not have many followers.  I do not have this huge pool of endless resources.

My support circle is small, tight, and strong but very small.

However, I am doing it anyway.

I believe that the rest will come if I just faithfully keep going.

The law of averages says that if I take the step, and keep on taking steps, eventually I will achieve what I set out to do.

However, if I do not act I will never get beyond the dream.

 So here I am, taking the leap.

I know you can too.

If no one else believes in you, I do.

I know with the right mindset, and a little bit of faith, anything is possible.

Moreover, if I can do it you can.

A lot of success hinges on a change in attitude, behavior, and thinking.

John Maynard Keynes, father and influencer of economic theory is quoted as once saying, “the difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.”

Do not wait until it is too late

If I believe in you, others do too.

In fact, they are waiting in rooms that you have not even entered yet.

You were made for this moment to arrive.

Believe

And, do it even if you are afraid

You have to get a seat in the room!

There are so many resources for development and improvement out there.  The world is rich with opportunities that there simply are no excuses.

No matter where you turn, there are people willing to share their wealth of knowledge, and the breadth of their experience with you.  It is all yours for the taking.  All you must do is begin seeking.

 Look for the opportunities. 

Make a way for yourself!

Remember that you create your own success.  Therefore, you have to put yourself in a position to succeed. 

You have to get in the room where those whom already made it where you are trying to go going gather.

Claim your seat!

 Mentorship and modeling are powerful tools.

Yesterday, I sat in the room with some of the 1%, people who had arrived at where I wanted to be. I sat there and listened to the gems they had to offer.  I left that room feeling so full, energized, and motivated. I felt that I was attracting abundance by simply occupying the space with others who had developed an abundance mindset.

 I was in the room!

 I was in attendance and I was attentive, and my life was enriched, and that is the way it should be you should seek out people who will level you up.

 If your circle is not enriching your life, find another circle or redraw your sphere of influence

I urge you, if you want to take your dream to the next level seek to get a seat at the table, if you cannot sit, stand in the doorframe, but do what you can to get in the room.

In my morning reading, I came across the awe inspiring quote, from the acclaimed book How Successful People Think,  Maxwell pens, “Look for people with the attitude of Robert F. Kennedy, who popularized George Bernard Shaw’s stirring statement, “Some men see things as they are and say, Why?’I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not?””

This is the type of mindset you want to develop, possibility thinking.  However, you must get in the room with people who have that mindset, because its infectious and you will never regret whatever opportunity you took to get there.