Finding opportunity

Opportunity: Seize the day, win at life

Author: Rob Moore

Publisher: Hachette India

Pages: 252

Price: Rs 599

Have you been intrigued by questions such as why some people seem to have all the luck? Why do the doors of opportunity open so easily for these seemingly blessed souls, while they remain obdurately shut for others? More crucially, is there anything we can do to improve our chances of finding more opportunities in life? All those looking for answers to such questions, and those whose lives are stuck in a rut, will find Rob Moore’s book instructive.

The author studied architecture in college, then squandered a few years as a struggling artist before finding his metier in the property business. That venture has a turnover running into millions of pounds today. He is also an entrepreneurship coach and the author of several best-selling books.

Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. Come to think of it, most people are like trams that move along the same track every day—home to office and home again (with perhaps a detour to the pub on the way back). They may boast of, say, 20 years of work experience, but what they possess is essentially one year of experience multiplied 20 times over.

What can such people do to find new opportunities? The book has many useful suggestions. One is that you must turn yourself into a tireless networker. Go out, meet new people, and expand your circle. Most opportunities in life, Mr Moore says, come from people. The number of opportunities you find will increase as your rolodex expands.   

The author emphasises the need to work actively on enhancing one’s visibility. His credo is: Visibility is credibility. Thankfully, we live in a world in which many tools are available that allow us to enhance our visibility exponentially—write a blog or even a book in your area of expertise, put out useful videos and podcasts, and even tweet purposefully.   

Developing greater self-awareness is a vital step towards finding more opportunities. We need to have a keen appreciation of what we are good at, the sort of environment in which we function best, the situations and cues to which we respond positively, and also the self-defeating traits that prevent us from realising our potential. Being self-aware can help a person recognise the opportunities that are suitable for him. Mr Moore suggests writing a journal of one’s activities and even undergoing therapy as a means to developing self-awareness.

One suggestion that resonated strongly with this reviewer is the need to prepare for the opportunities that may come our way. Just as cricketers hone their skills and iron out the flaws in their technique in the nets, we too need to practise and prepare for the game of life. Want to become a public speaker? Practise before a mirror, teach at colleges, and volunteer for speaking assignments at any forum that will have you. Want to become a stock investor? Buy the best books available on investing, read them, prepare a basic framework (or checklist) of how and when you will buy and sell stocks, and then “play” at investing with a small sum.

Finding the right models and emulating them is an effective method of self-development that is, alas, not used often enough. Mohnish Pabrai, a US-based fund manager of Indian origin who manages around half a billion dollars in assets, attributes his success entirely to “cloning” his gurus Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

Grabbing opportunities also means taking a few calculated risks, somewhat akin to the acrobat who leaves one swing to catch another. That time in mid-air is fearful, but there is no other way one can move into a higher orbit. A classmate of mine cleared the Union Public Service Commission exam and joined the coveted Indian Police Service (IPS). After a couple of years, to the collective dismay of his friends and well-wishers, he resigned and moved to a job with a publishing firm in Hong Kong. Today, he is a globetrotting consultant in the financial industry. Much of his massive success, one feels, stems from that one decision to jettison something already good and gun for something bigger. 

A cynic may say that much of what is there in a book like this is self-help mumbo jumbo, that the author owes his success to luck. And while what he preaches may have worked for him, it may not necessarily turn other peoples’ lives around. But then what alternative do we have? Keep travelling along the same old beaten track and hope Lady Luck will smile one day, or learn assiduously from successful people? If life is a game of chance, one way you can tip the odds in your favour is by taking the latter path.