Opportunity 
On Saturday afternoon, the insurance agents were taking in short 30-minute programs back to back with a small break after each from company marketing people. My work was finished and a group of us were sitting at a small bar area watching the “pre-game” for the Kentucky Derby. The fastest 2 minutes in sports has about 7 hours of pre-race coverage on television! While we all watched the festivities and chatted, right in front of us was a large refrigerator that was filled with beer and wine. It had a sturdy padlock and a much larger than needed chain protecting it. We had heard that the bar opened at 4 pm, and we were all gathered there starting about 1:30. So for about 4 hours, the bar area constantly had between 5 and15 people milling around. At about 4:45, somebody came out, unlocked the padlock to the beer and wine, and offered us some snack mix.
What would have happened if at about 2:00, someone from the hotel noticed that a whole bunch of people were hanging around the bar waiting for a horse race that was still several hours away? They might have thought that there was an opportunity to sell a some beer and wine and make people happy. While the revenue may have been minor, the goodwill would have been great.
What opportunities are you losing because you’re not paying attention to your own “people sitting at the bar?”
You have opportunities daily to improve the condition of another; rack up reputation, brand, and style points; and maybe even make a little income. When you’re paying attention to what’s in front of you every day, all of that adds up. Choose today to keep an eye out for an opportunity to make an impact on someone. All it takes is a little attention and creativity. The return on that investment will be worth it.
This week’s quote –
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.“
Join my new weekly Unleashed Google ON AIR Hangout today at 12 pm PST / 3:00 PM EST. This will be our topic of discussion. It’s free, it’s cool; and your invited. Come join us and bring your questions and observations to this week’s topic.
Or even smarter – if they knew a group of guests had gathered, why not brew up some mint juleps?! Oh, yes, know your crowd – they probably were not wearing large hats and sporting fancy clothes at that gathering – so beer would have been the beverage of choice – yes….watch what happens and things WILL happen. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks…I had also thought about mint julips!