At the end of the American Civil War, journalist Horace Greeley gave this often-quoted advice in an editorial, "Go West, young man!" and many Americans heeded his call. Greeley correctly identified that the American West contained vast potential for winning a fine living by taking advantage of free land, inexpensive resources, and good growing conditions.

Twenty-eight years later the best of that opportunity was gone, and historian Frederick Jackson Turner declared that the United States' frontier was finished as a social influence.

In every generation, there's an opportunity to move from places of limited opportunity for the average person to lands of much greater potential.

In the nineteenth century, many left their homelands in Europe and Asia for a fresh start in the United States. After legal immigration was greatly restricted there in the twentieth century, people still left their homes in droves. Much of the aspiring human tide flooded instead into other parts of North and South America. And illegal immigration continually flowed across the border from Mexico to the United States.

Near the end of the twentieth century, the fall of communism in many parts of Europe and Asia opened new floodgates for people there to escape devastated economies and to find a new beginning in countries offering more freedom and opportunity. As evidence of this trend, you'll find Russians, for instance, as a major immigrant community in many nations around the world.

Let's move to the present. If you are willing to pick up, to move, and to start afresh elsewhere today, where should you go for more opportunity? In thinking about that question, I also wondered what advice Horace Greeley would offer today to ambitious business people.

One possible answer is provided by well-known investor Jim Rogers, cofounder of the Quantum fund, who has moved to Asia and arranged for his daughters to learn Mandarin Chinese. That decision also seems to have been endorsed by the many ethnic Chinese from other countries who have turned their attention from other countries to focus much of their time, money, and effort into establishing new enterprises in China.

In considering opportunities, much can be learned by looking at individual cases of people who have been following a particular path. To understand the business opportunities in Asia, let me tell you a little about the opportunity-seeking experiences of Dr. David Ledger, an expert in successful small business practices, who earned his Ph.D. at Rushmore University.

Shortly after he started working, Dr. Ledger was drawn to Hong Kong from his native England by an attractive short-term assignment. One opportunity led to another, and he eventually spent fourteen years in Hong Kong.

The pace there was hectic, work days were often sixteen hours long, and travel was extensive. I was struck by the parallels in his experience to the millions of immigrants who work seven days a week, night-and-day, seeking to grasp as much opportunity as possible.

Eventually, Dr. Ledger's goals changed: He wanted to find agreeable colleagues, an environment that better suited his outlook on life, and a community where there would be less stress. Without seeking Australia, Dr. Ledger was delighted to find just the job, environment, and community there that he was looking for.

In moving well south of China to Australia, Dr. Ledger was responding to a better informed sense of what kind of opportunity he would benefit from. The place of maximum opportunity for any individual may not be the best place to go: The personal price there may be too high.

Dr. Ledger's desire to learn wasn't satisfied by the time that he arrived in Hong Kong. His work there involved many international business issues, and he determined that knowledge gained from an MBA program would increase his effectiveness.

In an earlier time, that desire to grasp more opportunity would have been a problem. Earning such a degree in prior years was only available by sitting in daytime classes in a few countries, none of which were near Hong Kong.

Fortunately, Dr. Ledger was able to find an appealing program that flew in professors from elsewhere so that he could study in Hong Kong. During his last two years there, he earned the coveted MBA degree. This credential added to his knowledge and expanded his business career options. This educational step was in its own way a bit like going his earlier move from England to Hong Kong to gain more opportunity.

During his MBA studies one of Dr. Ledger's professors made an observation that startled him: "You know that in 10 years the MBA will no longer be enough in a competitive environment like Hong Kong; you'll have to think doctorate." Even in the land of opportunity, you cannot do too much to gain distinctions that provide business-career advantages.

Following that advice fit well with Dr. Ledger's long-held desire to earn a doctorate. He had been working independently for many years on his observations about how to be successful with small businesses.

Having decided to enter a doctoral program, the next question was where to earn his degree. Because of his success with gaining an online MBA degree, he realized that an online Ph.D. program would suit his work schedule and career plans very well because he could change countries and not lose any momentum.

Dr. Ledger is now enjoying the business career fruits of moving to new lands and gaining distinction. He finds himself in a hospitable environment where there is plenty of opportunity to employ his international development skills as much as he wants and while being buttressed by the credibility of his Ph.D. degree. His life now provides "a feeling of pure satisfaction."

What advice should you follow for your career? Two centuries of opportunity seeking and today's global business environment suggest these lessons:

1. Move to where you can gain lots of practical experience very quickly.

2. Expand the scope of opportunities available to you by adding knowledge and academic credentials that complement your work interests.

3. Use online education, as appropriate, to allow you more flexibility to learn and grow anywhere you are or want to go.

4. Achieve a good balance between seeking opportunity and enjoying a lifestyle that is attractive for the long run.

For many people in Europe and North America, these four lessons can be summarized as: "Head Southwest, young person, and gain distinction."