The three letters that will ruin your life.

When I first heard about ILR I was shocked at how many great opportunities I had lost over the years because of this phenomenon.

Cars, business growth, houses, travel, friends, mentors… the list goes on.

It became an obsession to make sure that I dealt with it and got rid of it as best I could.

ILR stands for the Illusion of Limited Resources.

Why would I claim that it is an illusion that resources are limited?

It's not just me saying it. Professor Paul Zane Pilzer, a senior economic advisor and internationally acclaimed author, says that a resource is only defined by our ability to use it.

Effectively, there are no resources without resourcefulness.

The only reason oil is a resource is because we are resourceful enough to use it for so many things. Before we understood it, it was nothing more than black sludge.

Chances are that you are already standing on an 'oil well' of opportunities that are just waiting for you to become resourceful enough to see them.

If you don't believe me, try to imagine what would happen if tomorrow morning Richard Branson swapped lives with you for a year. He would get your house, your car, your friends, your family, your challenges and even your bank account.

Imagine that he would even have to take on your name and appearance. In twelve months, when you swap back, do you think there would be some noticeable changes in your life?

Of course there would! He would spot opportunities that you had overlooked. He would pick up the phone and have conversations that you would not have had. He would start to introduce himself more powerfully than you currently do.

What about poor Richard Branson when he has to go back to his life a year later? If you hadn't been as resourceful as he is, he might find that his island had been repossessed, his planes grounded, his management team had all quit and his spaceship was missing.

The three biggest factors that determine your resourcefulness are:

• The questions you ask

• The people you know

• Your willingness to stretch into the unknown

We all want Sir Richard's resources but very few people are willing to get even a little bit more resourceful than they currently are.

After reading this, I sincerely hope you are willing to stretch and do what it takes to become the Key Person of Influence in your industry. No matter what you need in your business or your life, getting it will be a function of your resourcefulness rather than whether the resources are available. Of course they are available.

Sound interesting? Find out how resourcefulness you are in business in the next 7 minutes. Start here.