I want you to imagine you are standing alone. All around you, you see only trees. There are a hundred trees to you left, right, in front of you and behind you. To the right, you notice a hill. You begin to climb that hill. As you get higher on your hill, you notice that there are more and more trees. When you get to the top of the hill, you realize the whole time, you’ve been standing in a forest, covered with tens of thousands of trees.
The hill and the forest are metaphors. The hill represents daily self-improvement. The forest, opportunities.
Through formal education, self-education and/or deliberate practice, you become more expert in your career, profession, industry or craft.
As you become more expert through self-improvement, as you climb your hill, you gain insight. The more insight you gain, the higher you ascend on your hill, the more opportunities you see.
Once you reach the level of expert, you realize all along that there were a forest of opportunities standing right in front of you.
Those opportunities, however, were invisible to you until you gained knowledge and expertise.
One of the hallmarks of successful entrepreneurs and top leaders is the ability to see what others cannot see.
They look out into the great ether and they see Uber, the paperclip, future Tom Brady’s, colonies on mars, vertical integration, Chinese manufacturing, revolutionary processes, etc.
Opportunities reveal themselves to those who are prepared to see them. Gaining knowledge and becoming expert in your craft through daily practice, give you insight and enable you to see what is invisible to everyone else.
About Thomas C. Corley
You see a man skilled at his work? He will stand in the presence of kings; he will not stand in the presence of obscure men. Proverbs 22:29
Very powerful insight, Tom! Thank you!
What a great viewpoint. Thank You