Fear of change isn’t the only thing that kills opportunities …

The greatest opportunity killer you will likely ever encounter is your own mind.

Many offer as evidence how we kill opportunities in our minds because of fear of change. But that isn’t always the case. Sometimes we kill opportunities with our thinking because we’re afraid things will stay the same! Sometimes we want change so desperately we become terrified at the idea of things remaining as they are and allow that fear to sabotage our opportunities.

So we do the irrational thing and shoot down the opportunity to try. For example …

… many marriages have ended in divorce because of this distorted way of thinking. After years of marriage, the husband or wife becomes convinced their spouse will “never change,” and it’s that prospect of living with them as they are that motivates them to walk out instead of trying to fix their marriage …

… or, you’ve had a dream for years that you have played with in your mind for so long you’ve convinced yourself you would fail and only find yourself where you currently are, so you give up on the dream without even trying … because you don’t want to stay where you are.

No, it doesn’t make sense, but that often doesn’t stop us from behaving this way. When we complicate our opportunities, or misinterpret them, we’re likely to kill them. Before doing that, we might save our opportunities if only we seek a little wise counsel from others.

Kind of like the fellow who had, for years, been the only barber in the small town he lived in. Just about everyone went to him to get their hair cut. Then one day a big hair salon franchise came to town and opened shop directly across the street from the barber. A big sign hung in the window of the salon: “All Haircuts for $3.00”

Slowly, the barber’s business began to dwindle. He couldn’t compete with $3.00 haircuts. In a last ditch effort to save his business, he hired a business consultant. The consultant spent a day pouring over the barber’s books and asking a lot of questions. At the end of the day the barber asked the consultant, “So what do you think, should I close up shop?”

“Not yet, I’ll be back tomorrow,” was his answer.

The next day the consultant showed up with a huge banner that he hung in front of the barber shop that stated, “We fix $3.00 haircuts!”

Proverbs 15:22 states, “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.” Before you kill the next opportunity in front of you, seek counsel from a wise Christian who has your best interests at heart. Doing so could help you take a big step forward to success.

Scotty