Why do some people see opportunities that others miss?

Rabbi Landau teaches that “the richest people don't live in a different world, they see a different world.” Two people can stand in front of the same opportunity. One sees the future, and the other sees a risk. “The opportunity didn't change, it's all in the mind.”

Most people believe wealth comes from working harder. He says it doesn't: “Hard work only multiplies what you already see.” If you can't see the opportunity, you work twice as hard doing yesterday's job. That is why two people can read the same book, go through the same schooling, and end up with completely different lives.

“You don't miss opportunities because they're not there. You miss them because your mind filters them out,” and your fear calls them risky or unrealistic. As King Solomon taught, “B'ein chazon yipara am,” where there is no vision, people lose direction.

So the greatest investment you will ever make, he says, is not property and not the stock market. “It's changing the way you see.”

Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level

Surface claim

Wealthy people don't live in a different world; they see a different world.

Fear, vulnerability, or tension

Fear filters opportunities out and labels them risky or unrealistic.

What may be behind it

In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that the physical eye catches only the outside of things, while inner sight sees Hashem's hand in the same reality, as Joshua and Caleb did when the other scouts saw only giants.

Deepest human truth

Where there is no vision, people lose direction. The greatest investment is changing the way you see.

More questions from this teaching

• Is working harder the secret to getting rich?