PeanutsforMonkeys https://coachhabeeb.wordpress.com/2019/07/19/peanuts-for-monkeys/
In many ancient nations, where monkeys were a delicacy, it was an old practice to catch them pretty innovatively. A large jar with a very small opening and constricted neck was filled with a handful of peanuts and tied firmly to a tree. Monkeys love peanuts and would quickly come to know of the opportunity jar. The quickest one would get to the jar and struggle to insert his hand into the jar. Once he reached the peanuts the monkey would quickly grab a handful of peanuts and try to pull his hand out. The hand would refuse to come out as the monkey’s grasp of the peanuts was obviously larger than the neck of the jar. No matter how long the monkey struggled, it would not let go of the peanuts in the jar. Struggling but still stuck to the peanuts, the monkey would end up captured and killed. Many monkeys gave up their life, all for a fist full of peanuts.
A thought-provoking metaphorical narrative, isn’t it? While we understand the paradoxical implication of this story can we relate it to our lives? Is there anything you and I are holding on to, like the monkey holding on to the peanuts? Majoring in minor stuff is a blind habit, difficult to realize and more difficult to give up. To me and you, the monkey seems to be a ridiculously stupid creature that didn’t budge to leave the peanuts and ultimately ended up on someone’s plate. For the monkey, the thought of releasing the peanuts would have been absurd. While it desperately wanted to run free, it did not realize that the peanuts it was after were the real trap and not the jar.
Small goals are like peanuts. Most of us go after petty things in life and invest sizeable time and efforts around it. The cost we pay is the productive time of our lives is lost at the behest of a few puny goals. Check for the peanuts you are after and give them up. Until you give them up you will never experience true freedom and unless you do not experience true freedom you will never be able to set big goals. To make it tangible, I have enlisted a sample list of small goals that burn our focus and energy. Eliminate them first before you start the journey of chalking the few GIANT goals of your life;
- My Possible Peanuts List I must work on giving up
- Everything around me has to be perfect, the spoon on the table as well.
- Others have to be like the way I feel right and they should do as I say.
- Trying to be the person I can never be. e.g I am dark-complexioned, so trying to get fair is futile.
- I can’t resist buying when there is a discount sale, online and offline.
- Attending a wedding requires discussions, planning and a few days of preparation
- Brands are very important, and I endorse them.
- Insults linger in my mind for a long time and I work on resolving them
- I spend a few days researching before I buy a need-based utility
- I am upset about the scattered garbage on the roads of the city
- I read the daily newspaper from the start to the last page over a cumulative 2 hrs. in a day
- I feel out of place if I do not meet my friends every day
You can reflect on a few more “peanuts” that may be burning out your focus and time in life. The only commodity we all have and is depleting even as you read this is time. You either invest your time or abuse it. If you are focused on big goals the former is in action but if you spend your time on the “peanut list” you simply abuse the most important asset given to you. Time is like a bank account with an auto withdrawal system and a choice of where you wish to utilize the same. If you spend it on small tasks your returns would be insignificant but if you decide to invest this asset on big goals, your returns are not only significant but multiplicative.
So wipe off the many small goals from your life and muster the guts of taking on a couple of sizeable and giant goals. (Story Extracted from my upcoming book “Tie Your Camel”)
