RYAN HANLEY

For those that don’t know my straight job is property-casualty insurance agent…

Last night I had a meeting with a very good client of mine.

He’s an immigrant from Eastern Europe and owns a decent amount of property here in Albany.

After finishing some business we started chatting about the economy and where the US is currently positioned (economically speaking) in relation to the rest of the world. I commented that the growth of Russia and China and India and Brazil and their desire to break free of the US Dollar scared me as an investor and businessman (Not the point of the story).

Well… What came next is what I like to call “School’n”.

Used in a sentence:

I got some School’n on Opportunity and Success last night…

Looking Through a Different Set of Eyes

This client of mine, who I would also consider a friend, began to drop some knowledge on me that only someone who had lived a Non-American lifestyle for a period of time could drop.

(FYI… This post gets very Ra-Ra America from here on out… If that bothers you I don’t care)

He used two words… Opportunity and Success.

According to my friend, America is truly the only country in the World where Opportunity is Limitless and the extent of personal Success is restricted only by the belief you have in yourself…

I know what you’re saying… “Ryan, don’t be so Xenophobic… Opportunity lies throughout the world.”

Yes, that is true (And is a difference in opinion I have with my friend that we’ll address in a minute).  But we’re talking about the US work ethic, we’re talking about the embodiment of this country, it’s foundation, it’s soul, the bedrock with which everything our forefathers built is anchored upon…

A graphic visual captures the energy and passion that flowed from my client across his desk into my brain.

Where I saw a country jaded and fragmented by an increasingly self-absorbed population…

…he saw a self-motivated populous bent on success.

Where I saw a depressed economy stagnated by over regulation and repressive taxation…

…he saw a society with rules that could be planned for and maneuvered around.

Where I saw decline…

…he saw opportunity.

Opportunity

Opportunity for wealth… for fame… for success… for future…

Because US culture doesn’t hold you back, your race doesn’t hold you back, your status at birth doesn’t hold you back…

American life is about Belief… Belief that you can achieve and that success if NOT a possibility or a probability… but a foregone conclusion if you so desire.  I mean truly desire.

You surround yourself in success, you bath in it, you drink it, it becomes who you are and NO ONE can stop you.  That is the society we live in.

And its awesome.

And I think I’m going to use Old Glory as a blanket tonight…

But I Disagree Because of the Internet

Despite leaving Jacked out of my mind with Patriotism and Desire for success… I couldn’t help but disagree with him on one point.

I have not traveled the World.  I do not have knowledge of political and cultural barriers placed upon people in other nations… But what I do know is the Internet has helped to break down those barriers.

With a single blog post… One Tweet… One YouTube video… You can effect change throughout the entire World. From anywhere in the World.

You can be the success you want to be Online from anywhere.

The Internet has helped to pull back the vale of repression that stifled the voice of thought-leaders not born into positions of privilege.

This isn’t just a US ability…

The Internet has given freedom to World (I know there are exceptions and this is not meant to political). 

But you have to want it.

You have to want the Success available Online and be willing to put in the hard work Online.

The Rub

I know that some of you are going to misunderstand my point with post… You’re going to comment about how so many other countries throughout the World a bastions of opportunity and success… And you will be right.

I’m writing this at 900pm… I literally just got home from the meeting described and these thoughts are fresh in my head and like any blogger worth a damn I can’t sleep till their out of my head.

This isn’t a political statement its a Stream of Thought on the Availability of and Opportunity for Success Online.

What I want to you take away from this post is what Success is and what means and how important opportunity is and that opportunity EXISTS FOR YOU!

Let’s grab a hold of that opportunity and achieve… Now!

Thank you and Good luck.

Image: domdeen / FreeDigitalPhotos.net