So while waiting for my flight out from Townsville to Brisbane, I finally got down to read the book “Who Moved My Cheese”. The story is actually very simple that even a kindergarten kid would understand it. The power in the book’s message lies in the readers’ interpretation and these are the important lessons that I learned from this book:
- Always prepare yourself for change – things always change and you won’t be caught off-guard when this is so- in other words, be adaptable and flexible
o The way to do this is to have enthusiasm and carry around a fighting spirit (not the hostile kind, but the excited to take on the world kind and ready for anything kind of fighting spirit)
- Always be aware of your environment to scope out for signs of change to occur – pay attention and be knowledgeable enough to be able to do this
- Celebrate change- change doesn’t always have to be bad- It is bad only if you think it is bad
o If it is bad, then change your perspectives on it- see it as a challenge instead
o Some people can argue that changing your perspectives about something be a sign of weakness. Is it simply a defense mechanism so you won’t get hurt? Let’s say if your friend betrays your trust and you have the option of a) being miserable about it and sulking about it for days then perpetuate revenge b) feel hurt but move on and learn lesson from it. In this case (like in any other case), the situation stays the same- your friend no matter what, already betrayed your trust. Similarly, how others react to you telling them the news stays the same- they will feel bad for you and they will be concerned about your well-being and try to cheer you up. The only thing that doesn’t change is the fact that you are still hurt. You can choose to be miserable. Only you yourself can make you feel miserable. If you pick a, you will lose out because there is simply not enough time in the world to not be happy. You can choose action b and learn a lesson from it. In both cases, both actions do not give us the same results, especially FUTURE results. The way I see it is that by learning a lesson from each time that we feel that we’ve failed, we become better-skilled, more experienced and wiser.
- Don’t let the fear of failure hold you back- the way I see things now – there are certain fears that are helpful to survival and so one should have them to preserve one’s own life i.e. the fear of dying would prevent you from jumping in front of a bus, but there are other fears that I feel would be debilitating
o I think that the fear of failure can be overcome with a change of perspectives, like weighing out what the worst situation can happen and work with that
i.e. the worst that could happen is for me to lose 1000$ and I do have 1000$ to spare anyways and the best situation is for me to secure a business deal and move up higher in my job position so there is actually not that much to lose- so by employing such a technique, you would have more confidence and would be more likely to succeed and end up not losing that 1000$
- You shouldn’t expect to do the same thing over and over to only expect different results- that’s just not being realistic and foolish
o Change the way you are doing things, THEN expect a change in results
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