Opportunity is all around us and has many facets, but it’s not always obvious.

It hides behind the same appearance that everyone else sees, but it reveals itself depending on who you are.

Even though everyone sees the same appearance, different people recognize different aspects of opportunity.

What you see depends on the vision with which you start.

Consider a farmer’s field.

Sam Walton had his own vision regarding fields.

The founder of Wal-Mart needed to open stores and lots of them.

His discounting philosophy meant that he needed to drive costs down, cut profit margins to the bone, and generate huge volume.

He did this by seeing opportunity where others saw a field.

Walton flew his own airplane.  He would fly low over an area of potential expansion, especially noticing any new subdivisions growing around existing small communities.

When he found a key intersection between a few small towns and in the path of growth, he would land his plane, buy a piece of farmland, and build a new store.

To most people, it looked like a field.  To Sam Walton, it looked like a field of opportunity.

But it was a field of opportunity for others as well.

The same land upon which now stands a thriving Wall-Mart looked very different to different people.

It was a farm for the farmer, an thumbnail sketch of economic indicators for the commodity speculator, a microcosm of the local environment for the scientist, a trend indicator for the demographer, a rustic landscape for a photographer, and a source of tax revenue for the county assessor.

The field was the same, but it embodied multiple opportunities.

What makes the difference is your vision.

If you know your vision, you will recognize your opportunities.