WEIGH YOUR HUMAN OPTIONS CAREFULLY
In a classic experiment in animal and human psychology a monkey was placed in a paralyzing dilemma. A hungry monkey which was an avid seeker and consumer of bananas was put in the vicinity of bananas. When the monkey approached the bananas, it noticed to its dismay that there was an ugly snake lying next to the bananas. Although the monkey had an insatiable appetite for bananas, it also possessed a hugely irrational fear of snakes. The monkey was therefore torn between two emotions and consequently two minds. First was the irresistible attraction of the bananas. Second, was the fear of snakes. In this experiment the monkey chose to play it safe and starved to death. In the end the monkey died not having tried to eat the bananas, and more tellingly not having been bitten by the snake because which was after all a lifeless plastic replica.
Although this experiment was done with a monkey, psychologists have produced compelling evidence that human beings placed in similar dilemmas behave just like the ill-fated monkey.
Winners Seek Opportunity, But Losers Seek Security
The monkey, and by extension, most people, did not fail because of lack of ambition. The monkey had a very well defined ambition-to eat the bananas. Likewise most people have fairly defined things that they are gunning for in life. The problem was not the absence of bananas; in fact there were plenty of bananas within the monkey's reach. The bananas in this experiment represented opportunity. Just as the bananas were available to the monkey in this experiment, let us make bold and point out to you the reader that at the beginning each of day, regardless of the circumstances, certain opportunities are available to you. The problem is never one of scarcity of opportunities. There is no day that does not bring opportunities with it. Although the opportunity was available to the monkey in the form of bananas for the monkey to eat the bananas it had to assume some risk and forgo its security. In the end the monkey starved to death not because of a famine but because of failure in the courage department. It opted for false security when opportunity presented itself. There is always a trade off between opportunity and risk. There is a cost to be paid for every achievement; great or small. To get to the next level in your business, career or even relationship; there is something that you have to give up. For the monkey to get the bananas it had to act outside its comfort zone, unfortunately it opted not to. Similarly, day after day opportunities present themselves to us and require of us that we act outside our comfort zones. Some seize upon this challenge and make progress but most opt for the safe shores and perish without ever giving their ambitions a chance. The first option available to us humans every morning is an option between opportunity and security.
Life Does Not Have To Happen To You; You Can Happen To Life
Whenever the wind blows the piece of laundry on the drying line flaps. The direction and speed of the flapping depends on the direction and the strength of the wind. Life happens to the piece of laundry; it is completely helpless. It can not determine its outcomes. Not so with the human being. The human being has an option between allowing life to happen to him, or him (for want of a better illustrative term) happening to life. This was the option available to the monkey. The monkey could have taken stones that were nearby and stoned the snake. If he had done so, he would have realized that the snake was a lifeless impostor. He could have thrown stones at the bananas; some of which would most definitely take a hit and fall away from the snake and the monkey would have feasted on these. The problem was not with the situation; it was with the monkey. The monkey had within it the ability to make things happen, but it opted to let the situation happen to it. Winners make things happen but losers allow situations to happen to their detriment as the fate of the monkey illustrates. The failure of the monkey, like most human failures was not a failure of strategy but a failure of courage.
You Can Choose To Be The Effect, Or The Cause
If the monkey had taken positive action, he would have been the cause of his success. But as it is the monkey's death was an effect of the experiment. This holds a very important lesson for all of us. The peculiar situations that we face everyday can affect us and even reduce us to seemingly helpless victims if we allow them to. However, we also have an option to be the cause of the outcomes we get. Today, before the end of this day, you can be the cause of a successful day or you can let the day blow you along like a flapping piece of laundry in the breeze.
The Answer Is Not In The Situation; But In You
In order for you to change your circumstances and change your world, you have got to believe two things. First, you have got to believe that life does not happen to you, but you happen to life. Second, you have got to believe that the answer does not lie in the situation. The answer lies in you.
All that the monkey needed was an act of boldness. All you need today is an act of boldness. Boldness is something that can be learned and developed. A couple of weeks ago I decided that every morning I would decide on and write down one audacious act I would love to do before the end of the day which would take me farther down the road of progress. I discipline myself, sometimes against my comfort zone, to accomplish these self imposed challenges. The results have been so encouraging that I am now working on a list of some audacious things I would like to accomplish in my lifetime.
Great achievements are born out of great acts of courage. There is no shortage of people with viable dreams and mega size ambitions but there is a severe shortage of men and women of courage. Upon close examination one cannot escape the conclusion that fear to act courageously in any situation is itself an indication of a willingness to fail. Most people fail because, although they may not acknowledge it openly, they were willing to fail. The person who is not willing to fail will not fail to act courageously when the situation demands it. The battle for achievement will from time to time present challenges that will test our resolve.
Weigh your options carefully before you recoil from the call for solid acts of bravery.
winningmantra
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