Once you have decided on your definite purpose, you should have a good idea of what form of wealth creation you will be undertaking; but sometimes things happen for reasons not yet known, and opportunity presents itself in ways we wouldn’t have predicted. To an extent, it was thus with Barnes’ “break”.
“When the opportunity came, it appeared in a different form, and from a different direction than Barnes had expected. That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and very often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity.”
“Mr. Edison had just perfected a new office device, known at that time as the Edison Dictating Machine (which was later called the Ediphone). His salesmen were not enthusiastic over the machine. They did not believe it could be sold without excessive effort. Barnes saw his opportunity. It had crawled in quietly, hidden in a queer looking machine which no one showed an interest in except Barnes and the inventor.
“Barnes knew he could sell the Edison Dictating Machine. He suggested this to Edison, and was quickly given the chance. And he did sell the machine. In fact, he sold it so successfully that Thomas Edison gave him a contract to distribute and market it all over the U.S. Out of that business association grew the slogan, ‘Made by Edison and installed by Barnes.”
Perhaps your opportunity will appear exactly as you expect, and perhaps not. Your job in either circumstance is to be open to all opportunities, and seize those that present themselves to you as you apply the principles of success revealed within this secret.
I will see you back here Monday and Thursday every week for the continuation of the Mindset Mastery series.
Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 – 2008
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This is true…sometimes it takes a setback to create a turning point in our lives which takes us further to our goals. Have you thought about creating Mastery Groups that meet as Napoleon Hill suggests from this community. If they exist I would like to know more
Good post!
Recognizing opportunity, when it appears is very important.
Also, grabbing the opportunity and proving ourselves is the thing that makes the real difference.
Hi Sean,
I’m not sure if I recognize opportunity when it comes disguised as misfortune, loss or a setback. I think I’m pretty good though at finding the positives regardless of the situation. I just hope that by seeing the positives, it will help me see the opportunities.
I have perfect 20/20 hindsight. Most people do. I missed out on a number of market paradigm shifts that could have made me a lot of money. The personal computer, mobile phones, and the internet. I was an early adopter of the technology and quickly became the “go to” guy when people wanted to know about these things or needed assistance. But I didn’t see the opportunity. I now realise that I didn;t see the opportunities because at the time I wasn’t ready to see them. My because my life education to those points had not prepared me to see them as opportunities.
These days I am a lot more open to opportunity. When most ask why, I am finding myself ask why not? It has certainl,y created a few opportunities for me and I am glad I saw those and took the action necessary to embark upon them.
More recently I saw a demonstration of a video telephone, much like that seen on the now very old Jetson’s cartoon series. Am I on board with that? Yes I am. Is it perfect? Not yet – but it will be.
Hi Sean,
At the moment I think I am focused on finding the ingredient I need to recognize the next opportunity that comes my way so that I may take advantage of it. Barnes saw a sales opportunity where the other salesmen did not see it and that was because he was waiting for it. This opportunity would fill his vision of working “with” Thomas Edison. It turned out to be the correct opportunity and mainly because he had already visualized selling the Dictating Machine.
Great learning, thanks, Sean.
Jill.