I recently saw a successful businessman being interviewed who explained something in such a simple way that it really got me thinking about my everyday existence and how I view the exterior world around me as it relates to who I am, how I can be more observant, but more importantly how I can be more receptive and attentive to seeing opportunities. Trying to be more “observant” in our daily life kind of sounds like something a motivational speaker or even your boss might say to you, but this conversation’s comparison had a bit more meat and substance to it as I’ll try to explain.

The businessman asked the interviewer, “how many red cars did you see on your way to work today?”. The interviewer was silent until he said a moment later, “I have no idea”. The businessman then said, “totally understandable…but if I asked you to count all the red cars on your way to work tomorrow, you’d show up with a specific number, wouldn’t you”? The interviewer replied “yes”. The businessman went on to explain that as we go through our daily lives, the “red car” question is an analogy as to how many opportunities we either see or don’t see every day. The vast majority of people live their everyday (mostly mundane) lives going through the motions, not really observing, or even looking for opportunities. We’re just not seeing. Or worse yet, we just don’t care or have any interest in seeing. Our lives are filled with the ordinary, the routine, the banal and the predictable goings on of our existence. Let’s get through this day, this week, this year, our lives. We miss the red cars. And, we miss life.

I thought to myself, OK, so, what opportunities? What am I missing? What am I not noticing? Now, I pretty much consider myself to be an extremely observant person. This comes from decades and decades of intense law enforcement and tactical training and the ability to spot danger or the possibility of danger as I am always present in my daily life in this environment. Conversely, I also try and observe opportunities for being and expressing kindness where and when I believe it needs expressing. It’s just something I’ve always done and I’m grateful God has instilled this in me.

However, as I thought through the issue more deeply, I realized I need to step up my game.

While this “red car” correlation is not something new and has been around awhile, I thought it something worthwhile to write about and maybe flesh out some deeper implications. I believe the opportunities we miss every day span a great deal larger than we may think. That said, I’ve spent the past few days compiling a list of some things I believe we can look for and try and capitalize on as we walk through our day.

Take a moment to check them out…

Opportunities for enterprise (is this something that I could benefit from financially, or start a business with?)

Opportunities for expressing kindness (and helping those less fortunate) and/or giving a compliment.

Opportunities for creating good relationships.

Opportunities for saying “thank you” more often.

Opportunities for saying “I’m sorry, I was wrong” (and meaning it without the “but”).

Opportunities for showing up on time and being mentally and physically present.

Opportunities for practicing active listening without interrupting.

Opportunities for following your dreams or goals (see opportunities for enterprise).

Opportunities for being a mentor.

Opportunities for learning something new or a new skill (practice is the key here!).

Opportunities for learning and using other people’s names.

Opportunities to pay things forward (at the checkout counter, at the drive through, etc.).

Opportunities to ask for help with something (this list could be long).

Opportunities to read and/or journal more.

Opportunities to TURN OFF THE TV more (see the above).

Opportunities to exercise more, eat better and create a more healthful you and being more active.

Opportunities to work more on your hobbies.

Opportunities to either pray or meditate daily.

Opportunities for go on news fasts (I know, this is a hard one).

Opportunities to create healthier social circles and connecting with other people.

Opportunities to quash any negativism you are thinking of saying or even doing.

Opportunities to be grateful for the life you are living and the life you’ve been given.

Opportunities to smile more.

Opportunities to practice breath work (there are tons of info about this on the ‘net…the one I like is called 4 second box breathing and I do it a lot).

Opportunities to acknowledge unhappy moments in your life, learn from them and move past them.

Opportunities to forget the past…this has been a life killer of so many people. Realize it is gone, you can’t change them. Learn from your life’s unfortunate past moments and move on.

Opportunities to avoid comparing yourself to other people.

Opportunities to avoid toxicity and/or toxic people in your life.

Opportunities to declutter your surroundings (this is a big one too…I’ve been practicing minimalism for years and it is absolutely awesome!).

Opportunities to get into nature more.

Opportunities to let go of grudges and forgive (this is for you, not them).

Opportunities to plan trips.

Ok, I know that was a lot. Please don’t get overwhelmed and try them all at once…you’ll make yourself crazy!!! There are obviously a ton more, but think of your own and work them into your lives.

Take just one or two (or, three) and try them…create good habits. Then return to the list and see what more you can do.

I’ve committed myself to seeing more opportunities in my daily life. Even at my age, I am totally against the phrase “I’m too old to do this or that”.  No, I’m just at the right age to give it a shot and try! And, I hope you will too!

Walk through your day looking for opportunities…because believe me, they WILL present themselves!

(the job site “Indeed” has a great link to some pretty cool quotes for life and work opportunities and you can check them out here: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/quotes-on-opportunities )