Habits, Change, and Invisible Ropes
"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Eleanor Roosevelt
There was a little boy who raised cows. He would herd them up a mountain every day and at the end of the day come back, tie them up, and leave them over night. One day, as he was tying up the cows he noticed he did not have a rope for one of the cows. The boy did not have any more rope and was concerned the cow would walk away during the night.
He went to a wise man and asked him what he should do. The wise man told him to go to the cow, pretend to tie the cow up, and make sure the cow watches you do this. The little boy listened to the wise man and did as he was instructed. The next morning, to the little boys amazement, the cow was standing right where he had left it. He untied all the other cows and noticed the cow he had pretended to tie up was not moving. He did everything he could to move the cow and the cow would simply not move. He returned to the wise man and asked what he should do. The wise man told him, "Untie the cow!" So the little boy returned, pretended to untie the cow, and watched as the cow returned to the herd.
We all face serious challenges in life - making us contemplate the paths and actions we are taking. Most of the time however, the constraints we put on ourselves are very similar to the invisible rope mentioned in the above story. We form habits and those habits give us a level of comfort which prevents even the thought of change. Then when we face a challenge in life, we stay with our habits and hardly ever consider a different approach. So the question is, "What are you willing to lose for the sake of comfort?"
The difference between a leader and a manager is simple. The leader finds blame in themselves first and the manager blames others first. If you are not achieving what you want in life, be a leader, and take a look at some of your invisible ropes. Identify what is tying you down. Is it your habits or beliefs which are limiting you from achieving your life's goals? Better yet, are the invisible ropes preventing you from managing relationships, setting boundaries, and ensuring you are treated the way you want to be treated by others?
Einstein provided many quotes to live by - but my favorite is, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again - and expecting different results." If you are not achieving your goals or people seem to be mistreating you - take a look at what is stopping you from making a change. You may just find - most of the time - it truly is an invisible rope.
