What do you see when you read these letters –  NOWHERE?

You can tell alot about yourself based on how you answer this question.

If you read NO WHERE, it might signify a propensity for negative thoughts to dominate your thinking.  If you tend to see the glass half empty, life might appear to be more difficult than it needs to be since you are looking for issues.  Many people successfully protect themselves by always seeing problems before seeing opportunities, so do not be hard on yourself if this is your nature. Please just be aware that your have predetermined your mindset this way. Give yourself the chance to at least consider the opposite opportunities.

If you read NOW HERE, it might signify a propensity to see the positive in every  situation. This person tends to be very light with life and does smile more often.  They also, however, tend to have the hardest falls because they get blind sided by situations they never expected….and this is the issue. If you tend to see positives first, please become aware of this propensity and at least consider the opposite to prepare for all possibilities.

It is a curious quirk of human nature that some people can see opportunities, while others only see problems. When you train your mind to seek out opportunities, you will find that every day literally presents you with more opportunities than you can take advantage of. They will be all around you.

Instead of your seeking opportunities, they will seek you out. Your biggest problem will be choosing the best ones.

The first step in making sure you are ready to recognize opportunities when they occur is to make sure you have a clear understanding of your own core competencies. Realistically assess your strengths and weaknesses as though you were reviewing the credentials of a total stranger. Identify what areas you’re best in and those where you need improvement. Work on your weaknesses and build upon your strengths so that when you recognize opportunities you are prepared to capitalize upon them.

Cooperation must start at the head of the table if it is expected at the other end. The same is true for efficiency.

In life, the amount of time and energy that is squandered in interdepartmental rivalry is enormous. People who compete with others waste valuable time and energy that should be directed at fulfilling the life’s mission to serve its others better. To make Matters Worse, a negative focus can you to miss opportunities, the full effect of which may not be realized for months or even years. Compete with yourself to do the best job you can do instead of competing with others.

When you treat others respectfully and never ask another to do something you would be unwilling to do yourself, you are entitled to the respect of others — and they will freely give it. But you cannot expect others to continue marching until they have blisters on their feet while you ride in the jeep. Leading others means you must be willing to give far more of yourself than you would ever ask from them.

Your mental attitude is the most dependable key to your personality.

Your view of yourself will greatly influence how others perceive you. If you are a confident, cheerful, positive person, your co-workers, friends, and family will be attracted to your personality. If you are unhappy, negative, and always complaining about your situation, others will be repelled. Even when at times you don’t feel very happy, by forcing yourself to behave in a positive fashion, you will find that you soon feel genuinely upbeat, because your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between an artificial emotion and the real thing. When you behave positively, you will positively influence everyone around you — including yourself.

The person who complains that he or she never had a chance probably hasn’t the courage to take a chance.

Thomas Edison once observed that the reason most folks don’t recognize opportunity when it comes along is that it is often dressed in coveralls and look like work. Often opportunity involves a great deal of work and a willingness to take a chance on something, the outcome of which may be uncertain. Eventually you reach a point when you must either accept an opportunity with all of its unknowns or else turn your back on it.

No one can tell you when you have reached that point; you alone know when it’s time to make your move, to have the courage to take a chance. You must get busy doing something about going the extra mile.

It’s well and good to feel as though you have changed the attitude with which you render extra service, but if that service is in truth no more than anyone else’s, then you aren’t doing yourself much good. You need to examine your co-workers and competitors to understand just what it is that will make you stand out.

If there are job performance standards, exceed them. If you’re fulfilling a contract, make sure you offer more than you promised. You cannot confine extra-mile service to your work alone. You must make it part of your philosophy for dealing with every person you encounter.

Imagine how others will be delighted to find that you are the type of person who not only does what is promised but even delivers more. The true benefit of going the extra mile is in teaching yourself to strive always for better and greater achievement in all that you do.

Decide where you are going and how to get there. Then make a start from where you now stand.

The surest way to achieve acceptance in any organization or in any line of work is to be successful. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way. No matter how carefully you study a subject, no matter how rationally you make decisions, no matter how well prepared you are, you will occasionally make mistakes. Human beings always do.

The important thing is to realize that temporary setbacks are not permanent failures. Successful people recognize that we all experience temporary setbacks that require us to reevaluate our performance and take corrective action to achieve success. They know that adversity is never permanent.

A resourceful person will always make opportunity fit his or her needs.

The ability to recognize opportunities is a critical element of success, but it is only the beginning. An idea is valuable only if it can be put into practice — by you.

Highly successful people know that there are many ways to capitalize on an opportunity. They evaluate and shape it to fit their capabilities, or they put together a team composed of people with the skills necessary to take advantage of it — whatever it takes to make it work.

Seldom is there any single right answer in business. Often there are any number of right answers. No Matter How…Do it now!  HP computers gets it.

The chances are that your job likes you precisely as much as you like it, but no more.

You are the world’s greatest expert on your job, and you can make it into what you choose. You may have a job description, but there are few jobs in the world that come with detailed instructions. A job description simply provides a foundation upon which you may build the perfect job for yourself. When you give generously to it, a job responds with a full measure of satisfaction, personal growth, financial rewards, and promise for the future.

If you are in a job you absolutely hate, and you have considered all the alternatives and decided that you will never like your job, find something else. But if you, like most people, dislike a few things about your work, but on balance believe you have a pretty good position, get busy making it the greatest job in the world. In your career, as in life, you get in direct proportion to what you give.

Everything you create or acquire begins in the form of desire.

In order to act, you must have a purpose. If you want to act successfully in all but the most mundane affairs, you must embrace that purpose with a burning desire. Many people think they want to be successful, but since they do not back that thought with an intense drive, they never achieve success. Cultivate your desire. Feed it with thoughts of yourself enjoying whatever it is you seek. It’s like stoking the furnace of a steam engine. You need to build up enough pressure to carry yourself over hills; if your desire doesn’t burn hotly enough, you’ll find yourself stalled and rolling backwards. The secret to action is a red-hot desire.

Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end.

Far too many people spend their entire lives waiting for that glorious day when the perfect opportunity presents itself to them. Too late, they realize that each day held opportunity for those who sought it out. If you have not formulated a plan for what you would like to accomplish in your life, don’t waste another minute. When you have

Definiteness of Purpose fueled by a burning desire to reach your objectives, nothing can stand in your way. Don’t wait around waiting for life to happen to you. When you know what you want and how you expect to earn it, life will agree to your terms, not the other way around.

Motivate yourself to improve continually by competing with yourself. As you perform a specific task, look for shortcuts that will help you finish it faster. Use the time you save to analyze other parts of your job, volunteer to help others with difficult or time-consuming tasks, or to tackle a new, more rewarding assignment.

The life of Helen Keller is an outstanding example of the triumph of the human spirit over a physical handicap.

Even today, decades after her death, her life stands as a beacon of hope for those who must constantly struggle just to perform routine tasks that most of us take for granted. Whenever you feel fate has been unkind to you, all you must do is look around you and you will begin to appreciate how fortunate you are. Make sure your life’s plan includes giving something back to the community without expecting anything in return. Giving time and effort, not just money, reinforces your connections to your community, provides you with concrete proof of the effectiveness of deliberate action, and reminds you of the inspiring power of determination in human endeavor.

Alfred Nobel had an opportunity afforded to very few. When his brother died, the newspaper confused the two and published Alfred’s obituary instead of his brother’s. As he read his own obituary, Alfred realized that the world would remember him for his invention of dynamite — an instrument of destruction. It was because of that experience that he decided to fund the Nobel Prizes. Today, most of the world knows his name in connection with humankind’s greatest achievements. Good deeds live on in the minds of others. When you do a kindness for someone else, you set in motion a force for good that will remain long after you’re gone.

It’s not the epitaph on your tombstone but the record of your deeds that may perpetuate your name after death.

Psychologists famously state: “when one is truly ready for a thing, it puts in its appearance.”

Have you ever noticed that the reason we often fail to recognize opportunities is because they come disguised as problems. When a customer, a colleague, or your boss has a problem, it may create a valuable opportunity for you. It isn’t important to the person with the problem how your company is organized or whose responsibility it is to solve the problem; he or she only wants the situation resolved.

The next time a customer, a colleague, or your boss asks for your assistance in something that falls outside your area of responsibility, instead of referring them to someone else, offer to help. Look at the situation from the other person’s point of view. How would you like the situation handled if the roles were reversed? Take the initiative to find the answer, solve the problem, or keep the project moving forward.

Opportunity lets you put your foot inside the door of success, but it doesn’t break the door down for you.

Opportunities are not windfalls. Winning a sweepstakes makes you instantly rich; encountering an opportunity means you will have to go to work. When you have attuned your mind to recognize opportunities, you will understand that most often they involve the exploitation of some potential, such as providing a new or better service, streamlining production, or reaching a new market.

This is why the habit of initiative is so important. You must be prepared to act as soon as you recognize an opportunity. The action may be simply further investigation, or it may be making an instant sale. Most often, however, an opportunity takes time and perseverance to develop.