William “Bud” Hart, of Haverhill, shares “Success Principles”—ideas for living a greater, better and more accomplished life, and building habits that stick. He also coaches clients to incorporate strategies for boosting their mental and physical performance during everyday living.
There is an old proverb that says, “Who makes himself a sheep will be eaten by the wolves.”
A few years ago I was involved in a program to help high school students that were labeled by school administrators to be at risk for dropping out of high school before graduation. When I met with each student a question I asked is, “What do you think you can do best in the world?” In addition to a shoulder shrug, which was universal, a common response was, “I haven’t thought about it.”
I haven’t thought about it! What a shame. Who am I, what am I becoming, where am I going from here and am I doing everything I can do to prepare myself to get there, are important considerations for every day and not just in high school. As I would tell each student, “The answer to the question, what can I do best in the world is simple. It’s contained within you, in what you dream about and the way you think about it.”
Every person on this earth has certain unique talents. Not a single one of the high school students I had the opportunity to meet was in tune with their thinking about their individual talents (an obvious reason for being singled out for their lack of interest). As the proverb states, they were young (student) sheep soon to be eaten by the world’s wolves
Sheep have been universally branded as “stupid” due to their strong flocking instinct and failure to act independently of one another. But sheep are not stupid. They band together and follow the sheep in front of them as a way of protecting themselves against predators. If a predator is threatening the flock, it’s not the time to act independently. Not bad thinking to a point.
For most people more than we recognize and are willing to admit, we are not the product of our own thinking, we’re the products of the past and the present thinking that is all around us. In this way we are like sheep complacently following the crowd and accepting what those taking the lead tell us. The interesting thing about sheep, however, is that contrary to how they act they do have smarts, they can learn and a certain strain of sheep even has the ability or instinct to lead and run in front of the flock.
Here is the sheepish (ha ha) question for you. Are you among the people who want to run in front of the flock? Do you approach each day with the attitude it takes to become and have what you desire? Do you go out and turn something up for yourself each day? Do you give the best you know how to everything you do and take steps to create your own luck by design, by being in the right state of mind? Or, do you just follow the crowd contentedly waiting for something good to come your way?
If you do the latter you can trust that the old proverb will apply, you will be eaten by wolves.
William “Bud” Hart is a certified “Mindset” Coach, Accountability Partner and Business Consultant. Visit Hart Group, www.hartgroupma.com for more on coaching.