“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”
~ Albert Einstein (1879–1955)
In a remote village in China hundreds of years ago there lived a wise farmer and his son. The wise farmer was respected in the village and also admired, for he owned a beautiful stallion.
One day, the stallion ran away.
The villagers flocked to the old farmer’s home and offered sympathies over the farmer’s loss.
“Oh poor farmer, you must be so sad to have lost your most valuable possession.” “What a terrible thing to have lost your stallion.”
“What ever will you do?” And so on…
The wise farmer responded, “Indeed, my stallion is missing. This is interesting.”
Weeks passed and still no stallion. Finally, one day, the stallion returned! With it, he brought a beautiful wild mare. The villagers rejoiced.
“What good fortune! You not only have your stallion back but a wonderful mare as well! How lucky you are!”
The wise farmer quietly responded, “Indeed, this is interesting.”
The farmer’s son was quite excited about the arrival of the new wild mare and saw it as an opportunity to tame her. The farmer agreed.
The time came to try and ride the mare. When the son did, the mare bucked and threw him, breaking his leg. The villagers soon heard of the latest turn of events and came running to the farmer’s home.
“Oh what bad luck!” they agreed.
“This is so unfortunate. What will happen if your son cannot work the fields?!”
The wise farmer was his calm self. “This is interesting,” he quietly repeated as he began to prepare for the journey to the doctor, days’ travel away.
Soon after, much to the dismay the villagers, the Chinese army came to town looking to take able-bodied young men to fight the latest bloody war.
The farmer’s son was passed over of course, left to heal from his (relatively) minor wound.
“Interesting,” thought the farmer.
Fieldwork Life is a never-ending series of events. What you may not have considered is that each event is just that, an event – something happens.
Yet, as humans we unconsciously and automatically interpret that event and ADD meaning TO what happened. In essence, we create a story about it.
Based on the responses of the villagers above, some may have thought:
“Without the stallion, he won’t have much fortune left (and will live much poorer).”
“With the stallion AND the mare, he’ll be twice as rich (and will live more fully).”
“He won’t have the man-power to work the fields without his son (and will lose some portion of his crop…and be muc h poorer).”
These “stories” create problems, and lots of them. In fact, more often than not, it’s the story of what happened that’s the real problem.
Look at your life right now. Is there a situation where you’re stuck or resisting action? Big or small, it doesn’t matter. Here are some examples to get the brain started:
1. Making a request of someone 2. Purchasing something or not 3. Proposing a new idea 4. Making a change Ask yourself, what “stories” have you created about the situation that are holding you back? What meaning have you added to the situation unknowingly? What is it you “know” will happen if you take action?
By Jamie Broughton of Footprint Leadership. If you're ready to build a stellar business and career without working harder than you already are, get your complimentary Leadership Springboard Workbook and tips now at www.footprintleadership.com
Your problem isnt the problem - To learn more about this author, visit Jamie Broughton's Website.
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Jamie Broughton
(Visit Jamie's Website)
Jamie Broughton is the founder of www.Fo
otprintLeadership.com . He specializes
in working with emerging leaders who want
to create highly engaging, rewarding
businesses and careers. Among other
things, his clients have experienced $250M
sales increases and created $10M profit
product lines all without selling out on
the important stuff.
He has been featured in the Globe and Mail
and on CBC Radio among others. He is the
author of the forthcoming book, “Get the
Best From Your Best: An Executive Guide to
Developing Top-Talent.”
If you're ready to build a stellar career
and business without working harder than
you already are, get your complimentary
Leadership Springboard Workbook and tips
now at w
ww.footprintleadership.com/corporate/resou
rces/workbook_ezine.html
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