Why Most People Fail to See Opportunities: And How To Recognize that in Yourself

This one will be short and sweet. Most people don’t say it out loud, but they often fall into this mindset. I wasn’t cured of these three words by effort, wisdom, or virtue but by despair.

Recently, during a guest podcast appearance, someone asked how I developed the vision necessary to start multiple companies and careers, especially given that my journey began as a child refugee. I love that question because I’ve thought about it quite a bit. The answer? At a certain point, I adopted a mindset that if nothing is certain, then anything is possible.

This internal shift cured me of a condition you might suffer from. It’s called the Illusion of Limited Resources (ILR). You might argue that it can’t be an illusion if resources like money, connections, or time are indeed limited. That’s true in absolute terms, but not in everyday life, especially in an age of possibilities unprecedented in human history.

ILR is thinking in absolutes without considering the countless opportunities, people, connections, and resources all around us. We admire professionals and entrepreneurs, wishing we had what they have, forgetting that most of them started where we are.

As a thought experiment, imagine swapping lives with, say, Elon Musk for a year. He gets your life, circumstances, name, body, and bank account. You get his. When you swap back, would he be in the same place you were, or lightyears ahead? What would happen to the companies he runs and you ran for that year?

The reason your answer is likely that Elon would have made some quantum leaps is that he doesn’t suffer from ILR. He knows resources are all around and adds to the gap with his off-the-charts resourcefulness.

In case you’re rolling your eyes at the mention of Elon’s name as an unfair comparison I must tell you this is true of every successful person I mete, including mere mortals like myself just the same. I’ve both participated in and bootstrapped myself a music career, a video production company, a church, a media and marketing company, an after-school academy, and a coaching business—all from zero. Once you do it once, you may not succeed every other time, but you know this fundamental truth - limited resources are indeed an illusion most of the time. What you want to tap into is resourcefulness and the resources tend to show up.

I’m not saying it’s easy to live a dream; it’s very, very hard. What I am saying is that it’s entirely possible if you decide to pursue it.

In perfect synchronicity with this post, we’ve just completed my latest video about my coaching program that focuses on overcoming this illusion. If you’d like to be cured of ILR, this is the medicine I’m prescribing. Watch it and find out how ready you are to pursue your dreams by accessing your Xponential Scorecard. It’s good to honestly assess where you are before deciding where you want to go.

Thanks in advance for watching it. It’s a premiere.

And if you missed it, we had a tremendously enlightening conversation with Dr. David Yeager, a world-leading researcher in Growth Mindset and Motivation.