In a recent email thread:

"Opportunities for advancement don't appear to exist in the reality of the goal-less. Once a person decides upon a goal, opportunities suddenly and frequently appear. Just as 'night crawlers' appear when it rains, opportunities appear when we have goals."

- Matt Furey, Author of Maxwell Maltz' Theatre of the Mind;

I must say his observation is very true!

Once we have set a goal for something, our Reticular Activating System or RAS, located in the thalamus region of the brain, within our Reptilian core, which sits on top of our spinal chord, goes into action.

Using a military analogy, it becomes like precise commands to the servo-mechanism of a Tomahawk cruise missile, looking out and scanning the topographic environment for any changes, as the missile makes it way to the predetermined destination (target).

Oftentimes, it's not that we don't see the opportunities lurking in front of us; the sad thing is that we are not aware [the thalamus is our innate sensory awareness controller!] and consequently, we just don't recognise them.

The late creativity maestro Dr Edward de Bono had done a lot of research in this area, especially as revealed in his classic Opportunities: A Handbook of Business Opportunity Search:

He makes some very illuminating observations in this book:

"The reasons that many opportunities pass us by is a perceptual one - we do not recognise an opportunity for what it is. An opportunity exists only when we see it."

"Everyone is surrounded by opportunities. But they only exist once they have been seen. And they will only be seen if they are looked for."

That's why I have had always maintained in my myriad writings that cultivating perceptual sensitivity to the world and increasing sensory acumen in our repertoire form a very important skillset, toolset, actionset and mindset for all of us in today's rapidly-changing, technology-savvy world.

Additionally and very interestingly, Dr Edward de Bono offered possible reasons why we often missed our opportunities, and here's my recap:

- We simply cannot see the opportunity;

- We can see the opportunity, but cannot see any possible way of evaluating it;

- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity, but cannot see how it can be achieved;

- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity & even how to achieve it, but nevertheless it is not for us;

- We can see the opportunity, but can also see huge problems with people, resources & money;

- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity, but we have better use of our resources & efforts;

- We can see that it is a worthwhile opportunity, but in our opinion the risks are too great/rewards too small;

Enjoy your reading, exploration and assimilation!