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Question 1: What specifically is the opportunity?

• Describe the opportunity in two different ways: once in a sentence and once in a paragraph.

• List other people, companies, and organizations that have taken advantage of this opportunity.

• Describe how you’re different from them and similar to them and how you can use what they’ve already done to your advantage.

• Also consider: Is there a specific window of time for acting on this opportunity?

Question 2: What are the measurable outcomes from this opportunity?

• Describe what success in pursuing this opportunity would look like.

• Explain how you’ll measure your progress pursuing this opportunity.

• Learn how other people measure their progress regarding this opportunity.

• Also consider: How many other people will get more joy out of their life if you succeed?

Question 3: Do these outcomes move you closer to your Future Picture?

• Compare your four snapshots to the outcomes that pursuing this opportunity is expected create.

• Do these outcomes align with your Future Picture? If the outcomes match, how long will it take for you to create them?

• Decide if this opportunity requires your constant leadership or if you can eventually pass the baton.

• Also consider: Is there a limit to how far you can take this opportunity?

Question 4: Are you passionate about this opportunity and its potential outcomes?

• Describe why you’re passionate about this opportunity and its likely outcomes.

• Is your passion based on a short-term goal or lifelong desire?

• Calculate the amount of time you can invest daily toward this opportunity.

• Also consider: Do you have enough excitement about this opportunity to overcome the likely obstacles required to reach it?

Question 5: What resources do you need to act on this opportunity?

• Describe the tangible resources (such as money and contacts) and intangible abilities (resilience and public speaking, for example) that you will need to make the most of this opportunity.

• Determine if you have these resources and abilities or how you plan to acquire them.

• Determine whether you have the authority and time to bring these various resources together.

• Also consider: What must you prove or provide to get the resources you need?

Question 6: Who can help you research this opportunity and possibly play a role in pursuing it?

• Identify the roles necessary to pursuing this opportunity that you don’t want or can’t do.

• Determine who you know or who you could get to take on those roles.

• Decide how you could handle those responsibilities until the positions are filled.

• Also consider: Is there an organization that you could partner with to shortcut your path to this opportunity?

Answering the Six Questions for Opportunity may take a little work, but it enables you to weed out time-consuming distractions from the golden opportunities that deserve your full attention. Don’t be disheartened if you have to consider many different opportunities before finding one that answers all six questions to your liking. Anyone can stumble onto a mediocre opportunity; but few have the patience, diligence, and wisdom to keep looking until they find an opportunity that warrants their complete attention.

As one of my mentors always says, “No deal is better than a bad deal.”

He’s a wizard at real estate, and his perfect thirty-year investment record speaks for the value of weighing opportunity. His philosophy is to consider a hundred real estate investments before investing his money in any one of them. Adding to his intense analysis of opportunity, he reinforces his Opportunity Radar through weekly meetings with financiers, bankers, brokers, politicians, and developers. These get-togethers help him keep tabs on the pulse of real estate currents and provide him with a sounding board for his investment decisions. He has not lost money in a real estate investment—ever!

OPPORTUNITY IS WITHIN REACH

Denise saw the opportunity she was missing by taking the risk to teach a blind kid to bowl. He showed her opportunity is more than