When we were kids, it was the best thing in the world to have friends knock on our door and ask you to come out and play.  You did not have to know what you were going to do that day.  You were perfectly fine with getting outside and creating something to do. You were innovative, motivated and believed that anything was possible.   You were ready to take action and try something new, get dirty and take a risk if it meant you ultimately were happy with the result.  Opportunity knocked and you were ready.

Somewhere along the way, it became harder and harder to step out of the house and play.  I am not sure if the kids stop knocking or we stopped answering.  Either way, we stopped inventing, playing, dreaming, doing and taking action on the things that interested us.  They were silly childhood things that no longer had a place in our lives.  But, they were far more important than we knew back then.  They are what will make you come alive again. 

It is the childhood skills of reinventing, exploring, doing and taking action on opportunities that are the new core competencies in making real change in your life.  They are the keys to open doors that seemed closed.  You have these skills, but they may be locked up somewhere in your head.  Lucky for you, that little kid inside you knows where the keys are.  Find them and shake them.

If you are in a dead end job and you desperately need a new opportunity, shake them.  If you are thinking about starting a new business, but are afraid of what people may say, shake them.  If you are thinking about going back to school, but think you are too old, shake them.  If you think you have burned too many bridges to change who you have been, shake them.  If you are thinking big and others are telling you to play small, shake them.  Shake them until you shake some sense into yourself. 

What are you waiting for?  The sun is shining. Opportunity is knocking.  Go out and play.