Imagine crossing a river.
Your mode of transport is a sturdy, well-built raft.
Once you dock, instead of leaving the raft, you drag it out of the river and carry it on your back.
All day, every day.
This would be seen as crazy behaviour.
And yet you and I do it.
The Raft is your learning.
Sometimes we’re so focused on our own learning, discovering the next new thing, striving to be better that we forget to apply what we’ve learned.
I wish I had a pound for every time I’ve said:
‘The secret isn’t in the knowing it’s in the doing’
As well as good learning, you also need to leave behind bad learning.
Experiences that no longer serve you.
It’s difficult to do this. But, just as the water you sailed across on the raft is no longer there, the experience; the hurt, the pain, the challenges they have also gone.
It’s only your memory that you’re referring to.
And you know how unreliable that can be.
It’s time to leave the raft and use what you know.
Be Brilliant!
Michael
This newsletter was inspired by Buddha’s parable of The Raft.
Please leave your comments below.
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Wow that’s so true. Yesterday I took the decision to leave a product behind and whilst it has a slight financial impact I believe it was for the good. I will strive to make up that loss, but it feels good to have made that decision. Thanks
Throughout life, not just in my writing I find many people, too many, focus on the negatives. I have always tried to focus on the positives and sometimes it is hard. I have always impressed upon my children to try and take a positive from every situation, never mind how bad it may seem. This approach has helped me enormously in life and in my writing because as you must know there can be a lot of negatives, push-backs, rejections especially in writing. Sometimes the hardest part can be the doing and again I find being positive helpful. We can always find excuses for putting things off so I find the best thing to do is, well, just go ahead and do it. This has served me well in life…mostly.
This is a great concept but, for me, not all that easy to grasp. Perhaps it ties in with “Use it or lose it” so something you don’t find useful and therefore don’t use, fades away.
This is an inspiration. Thank you.