I hate binaries. But to some extent, I believe there are two types of people in this world. Those that scan for opportunities. And those that scan for problems.

Let me tell you one thing right off the top. Don’t be the one that scans for problems. Those are the people that always drain our energy. Persistently. The people that we have to tiptoe around, living life in constant fear of messing up. This is not an ideal way to live.

We should instead be living a life where we are excited to take action, because of the encouragement we’ll receive from those around us. From the joy that our actions give other people. From the joy that the actions of others give us. These are the people that energize us with their presence. These are the people that scan for opportunities. These are the people that we want in our lives.

Scanning for opportunities is one of the most valuable traits you can possess.

I’ve never been one for memes, but there’s a classic meme I always see flying and floating around on Instagram of a dog in a house fire. Chaos surrounds the dog, but still, the dog thinks to itself – “This is fine. Everything is fine.”

That dog might be a goner. But they’re also a world-leading thought provider. No joke.

When chaos erupts around us, it can be so easy to descend into fight or flight mode. To descend into chaos alongside the eruptions. To think that everything is wrong with the world.

Don’t get me wrong (or the world). The dog should escape the fire. The dog’s lack of inactivity in thinking that everything is fine is not the point. It’s the dog’s mindset that is so pure and powerful in and of itself.

Thinking “this is fine” is not overly helpful on its own. But neither is panicking. Neither is paralyzing yourself out of fear. If the dog just now takes this mindset one step further and scans for the opportunity where they can make the most of the situation, the dog has done what most humans would not be able to do.

Speaking of fires, Thomas Edison literally walked away from his entire life’s work burning down to be like “Go get your mom and her friends. This is the biggest fire they’ll ever see!”

Edison and the fire-blazing dog teach us a valuable lesson. More often than not, the fiery problems descending our world into chaos present us with massive opportunities. Opportunities to learn. Opportunities to grow. Opportunities to be that best version of ourselves that we so desperately want to be.

More often than not, those problems can even be reframed as positive in some small way.

SEE: How to reframe negative thoughts

But most importantly for this discussion, our problems usually aren’t actually as significant and important to the grand scheme of our lives as they seem.

So instead of scanning for problems, we must scan for opportunities. After all, opportunities are what truly matter. Opportunities are what truly shift the needle.

If you scan for opportunities and you scan for the good in other people, you will live in a world where everyone around you suddenly starts to be more heart-filled, wholesome, and positive too. Where everyone wants to know your name. Wants to learn from you. Wants to be you.

That’s a powerful position to be in. It means you can inspire others, because you’ve already done the hard work in ensuring your own sense of internal inspiration is met.

SEE: How can you inspire others, if you can’t inspire yourself?

So scan for the opportunities in life. Avoid the people in your life that scan for the problems. Help them reframe their mindsets. But don’t let them bog you down. Stand tall, and continue looking on the bright side. Any problem presents us with an opportunity. Sometimes, you just have to scan for it.