MUREveryone has his or her own share of challenges. But it is how one reacts to them that defines them as individuals.
Coral reef grows best in the area where water is salty. The sea is rough and situations are tough. It is the toughness and the roughness that make them grow. There is a lesson that coral reef teaches us. How do you face your challenges?
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Another example from the animal kingdom is the folklore about the dramatically different behaviour of cows and buffalos in handling an approaching storm. Cows are said to start running in the opposite direction thinking that they will outrun the storm. Cows are not known for their running speed. In no time they find themselves caught in the midst of the storm. On the other hand, buffalos in the same situation do the exact opposite. The moment they see the storm getting bigger, they begin to run. Not in the opposite direction, but towards the storm. They move as fast as possible and cross the storm within no time. This way they minimize the time they spend in a situation that is quite unpleasant for them. In both the cases, it is the same storm, and yet the reactions are completely different.
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When confronted with life’s challenges, you too have the power of choosing your response. Your results largely depend on the choices you make. You surely can’t escape the challenges of life. So, instead of letting life choose your challenges,YOU CHOOSE a certain path for your own challenges.
History is replete with stories of many who choose their own challenges – Napoléon Bonaparte, Henry Ford, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Tenzing Norgay, just to name a few. One more hero from the same class, Göran Kropp, has a mind-blowing story of a trip from Sweden to Everest. He cycled there, scaled Everest without the aid of the bottled oxygen, then hopped back on his cycle and returned to Sweden.
How do you join the ranks of such people? Here are a few lessons taken from the lives of these heroes:
1) To achieve a dream, you need a dream. What is yours?
2) If you have to take 3 steps towards your dream – what would those 3 steps be? As the wise men have taught us, ‘You can even eat a whale, if you eat it in pieces’.
3) Now that you know the three steps to be taken, do a quick analysis: what is the gap between “where you stand” and “where you want to go?” This simple self-check sets you pragmatically forward in bridging the gap. The story goes that Göran Kropp didn’t have a perfect bicycle for his trip. But that realisation set him on the path of custom making one that worked for him.
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Achieving something phenomenal starts with showing positive intent in a systematic and defined manner. Sometimes it helps to take this journey together with a team.
So what will you be this new year? Will you be a cow who runs away or will you be a buffalo who runs towards your goals?
