One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about being an airline pilot is the variety of people I have had the pleasure of sitting next to for hours on end. Around the dinner table in our home the family would love to hear what would come after the words, “I was flying with this guy the other day and he said…”.

One of these stories was from a man who talked about his first job working at McDonalds. The first position he worked was at the french fry stand. He talked about how his goal was to make every order look exactly like the picture on the menu. He also talked about how much he learned about the restaurant business and business in general. He had a front-row seat to an education in business as he worked in the business. His professors were the owners, managers and co-workers and even the customers. He considered his time at McDonalds to be an important part of his education.

We are trained, I’m afraid, from our youth to approach our eventual jobs in the same way we approached our classes at school. Someone places before us a series of hoops. Jumping through those hoops equals a successful outcome. When we take this mentality into the work place we tend to approach our jobs with the same mindset. We are happy with going though the motions because going though the motions has always meant the reward of a good grade. But that’s not how the business world works.

Opportunities, as a rule, don’t knock on our doors. They are like Easter eggs hidden from those who don’t have the eyes to see them. But once you begin to see them, you begin to understand that opportunity abounds.

But seeing the opportunity is only the first step. That opportunity is not going to then “counsel” you in how to sign up for it and then set before you the required hoops through which you must jump to take advantage of it. It’s not that easy. Nothing worth having is. Success requires an attitude of thoughtfulness, work, and persistence just to get started. Learning and weaving the myriad other requirements for success into your thinking is what transforms you into an asset others are willing to pay handsomely for. Shakespeare said all the world is a stage. That may well be true, but it’s also an excellent university for those who understand how to enroll.