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The 4 Actions You Must Take to Find Your Opportunity There is exactly as much opportunity in the world as you're willing to work for.

By Grant Cardone Edited by Dan Bova

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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Don't look for an industry, look for the opportunity. Opportunity is a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. The middle class looks for jobs to solve their problems. You need a job, but you also need opportunity. Senior students at MIT and Harvard right now don't even know what opportunity means, they will just be looking for a job next summer. The truth is, an opportunity will solve your problems. Here are four tips today to find your opportunity:

1. Look for opportunity.

Before you can see an opportunity, you have to be looking for opportunity. This seems basic but many people have given up on looking for opportunity. This is why there is that saying, "You wouldn't see an opportunity if it hit you in the face," comes from. Opportunity can literally be right where you are but you're blind to it.

Related: Richard Branson: How to Spot an Opportunity

2. Be willing to read and research.

They say knowledge is power, and it's true. You won't find opportunity without knowledge

Everything you ever want, you are just a piece of knowledge away from obtaining. The only thing between you and massive wealth is the right knowledge. I've experienced all the delays and pitfalls that keep people in the middle class, but I was able to push beyond them to become wealthy, and I can teach you to do the same because of the knowledge I've obtained.

Related: 3 Steps to Spotting Opportunity in Markets With Dominant Players

3. You have to go for it.

You have to leave where you are comfortable. Staying with mommy and daddy past the age of 25 isn't going to work, sorry. Opportunity might mean moving out of state or even across the country. Maybe, just maybe, you need a new passport for your opportunity. The point is, the opportunity may not be where you are because you might be a big fish in a small pond.

Related: Why Startups Should Look for Opportunity Between the Coasts

4. Make contacts.

Everything you want, somebody else has it. Contacts equal contracts. How big is your power base? How big is your pipeline? The more people you know, the more opportunities will come your way. There's a reason why successful network marketers make a lot of money -- they prospect.

Your next opportunity might just be with someone you don't even know yet. You need to go out and meet them.

So what is your opportunity that you need?

Each of of these four essentials -- looking for opportunity, reading and researching, going for it, or making contacts -- requires effort on your part. I have a few sayings that relate to this:

Everyone wants to have a six-pack but don't want to put in the time.

Everyone wants to be the boss but won't go out on their own.

Everyone wants to be a millionaire but won't spend $1000.

I will add to this, "Everyone wants an opportunity but won't ____."

What's your excuse?

Find your opportunity.

Grant Cardone

International Sales Expert & $1.78B Real Estate Fund Manager

Grant Cardone is an internationally-renowned speaker on sales, leadership, real-estate investing, entrepreneurship and finance whose five privately held companies have annual revenues exceeding $300 million.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

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