Welcome to One Thing Better. Each week, the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine (that’s me) shares one way to achieve a breakthrough at work — and build a career or company you love.
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You feel stuck, and you’re not sure why.
Maybe your career feels stagnant. Maybe your business has plateaued. Maybe you’re in a social rut. You want something new, but you don’t see good options.
Here’s what’s really happening: You’re only considering what’s accessible to you, not what’s available to you.
Today, I’ll show you the difference between these two ways of thinking — and how shifting from accessible to available can unlock opportunities you never knew existed.
But first, I’ll tell you about the moment I learned this lesson.
When I stopped waiting for opportunities
I began my career as a small-town newspaper reporter (in that office you see above). I was miserable. The work was boring, the pay was terrible, and I felt like I was going nowhere.
When I looked at my options, they all seemed depressing. I could apply to other small newspapers. I could work my way up slowly through the ranks. Or I could wait for someone to notice my work and offer me something better.
That all felt unsatisfying and slow. I didn’t want to just plod along. I wanted to leap — to work at large publications, and do ambitious work, and get there as fast as possible.
That’s when I realized: I was thinking about my options all wrong. I was focused on what other people did to advance, but I wasn’t thinking about all the possible ways to advance.
And that made all the difference.
Accessible vs. available
When we think about what’s next, we often look for existing models.
We want to know: What did other people do in my situation? What’s the natural next step in this career? The natural next move for similar businesses? The things all my friends are doing?
It’s fine to ask these things, but the answers are often limiting. Here’s an example: I have many journalist friends, and they’re often miserable and desperate to get out of this crumbling industry. But they all tell me the same thing: “I’m staying, because I don’t want to be in PR.”
And here’s what they mean by that: “Many journalists go into PR because it’s the most obvious place to utilize the same skillset. Which means it’s really my only option.”
That’s not actually true! There are many, many ways that journalists can transfer their skillsets to other industries, if they’re willing to think creatively. But my friends are stuck looking at what’s accessible… instead of what’s available.
Here’s the difference:
- Accessible = what feels safe, easy, clear, and within reach
- Available = what exists as possibility, even if it requires effort/risk
Accessible opportunities come to you. They’re posted on job boards, announced in your industry, or offered through your existing network. They feel safe because they’re designed for people like you.
Available opportunities require you to go get them. You must discover them, create them, or convince someone to give them to you — but let’s be clear: Available things are not fantasies! They are “available” because they leverage your skills, expertise, knowledge, or contacts in creative ways.
Journalists, for example, are excellent at drawing information out of people, navigating delicate situations, and communicating complex information simply. Imagine all the fields where those skills can be used! Therapy. Advertising. Policy. Academia. It goes on.
Most people stick with accessible because it feels safer. But here’s the paradox: Accessible opportunities are actually riskier in the long run — because they’re limited and more competitive. Everyone chases the same accessible opportunities. But fewer people look for what’s available.
How to find what’s available
So, back to my story: I was young, ambitious, and felt trapped at a tiny newspaper that made me unhappy. The path ahead seemed predictable and boring.
Then I thought: What’s available to me, even if it seems harder?
The answer was: I could pitch stories to major national publications! The Washington Post and New York Times weren’t going to hire an inexperienced kid like me, but they still needed good story ideas. And they used freelance writers. So why not pitch them? All I had to do was come up with an idea and send an email — which was totally available to me!
So that’s what I did. I quit my newspaper job, started cold-pitching editors at major publications, and suffered a lot of rejection. But occasionally, someone gave me a chance. I got into the Post. Then the Times. Those wins bolstered my credibility, and led to more work.
That’s how my career took off. So I kept doing it. When I became editor in chief of Entrepreneur, I asked myself the same question. What’s available to me now? Then I built a speaking business. My own personal media business. I got involved in other people’s businesses.
None of this was the natural, known path for a person in my position… but it was all available.
Versions of this thinking are all around you. Just think of the applications:
- In business: Accessible clients are found through your website or referrals. Available clients are found through cold outreach, creative partnerships, or new marketing channels.
- In careers: Accessible jobs are the next promotion or obvious next step. Available jobs are the ones you must make the case for, where you frame yourself as the non-obvious but best choice.
- Socially: Accessible friends are the people in your existing circles. Available friends are the people you could meet by joining new groups or attending different events.
And by the way: I’ve been writing a lot lately about being singular instead of interchangeable. Accessible paths make you interchangeable. Available paths make you singular — because they’re the ones you carved yourself.
The abundance mindset
Here’s what’s liberating about this shift: When you focus on what’s available rather than what’s accessible, you realize that opportunities are everywhere. You’re not limited to what comes to you or what feels safe.
The world is full of people who need help, companies that need solutions, and possibilities that no one is pursuing. But you can.
Because that’s what’s available.
And that’s how to do one thing better.
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