Monthly Archives: June 2016

So much to teach – so few opportunities

smal opportunities to helpWhatever you have accomplished…Whatever you have learned…Whatever you have experienced…adds to who you are. I believe that who we are is meant not just for ourselves, but to teach others.

The only way to pass on all we know is to use every opportunity as a teaching moment. Think of each interaction as a chance to add value to another person. I have found that in doing this I gain more personal and team success in the long run. Brian Tracy points out that, “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’”

When will the opportunities come? There is no time like the present. And if you think you have missed opportunities in the past, then the second best time to look is still right now.

“Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.” – Napoleon Hill

How will I be able to spot the opportunities to teach? Here’s how I began looking for opportunities to teach early my leadership career: Each morning I picked one key item from a book I was reading and looked for a chance to teach someone what I had learned. I didn’t let a day go by without sharing at least once.

“Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them.” – William Arthur Ward

How many opportunities should I expect to get? As many as you can find the time to take advantage of. You’ll be amazed when you start looking how many you will see.

“In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1.440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.” – Les Brown

Understand the real question before you answer.

answering the right questionSuccessful people don’t always have the answer to every question, but they know how to find it. The key to finding the answers is to understand the real question before you answer.

Author, Shannon L. Adler believes that, “Most misunderstandings could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask what else could this mean.” I agree. In this busy world we often want to quickly answer what we think we hear so we can get onto the next question. As the witty Charles Schultz says, “In the book of life’s questions, the answers are not in the back.”

The reality is that we should invest the time needed to get the right answer the first time. Albert Einstein, arguably one of the brightest scientific minds, said, “It’s not that I’m so smart. But I stay with questions much longer.”

If you dig a little deeper you may find that once you discover the real question, the answer is easier than you originally thought. Dr. Seuss wrote many children’s books that were filled with wisdom shared as witty stories. His advice on understanding the real question before you answer is, “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

If you want to truly succeed, asking the right questions is the key. As novelist Thomas Berger once said, “The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.”

 Scroll to top