Life Lessons from Nature Read online

  Don’t be defined by your limitations

  The Kazakh don’t have powerful eyes. How are you equipped for success in your chosen field of endeavor? Do your skills match the work that you’re doing? Do you find yourself working in your areas of strength the majority of the time?

  You can develop your vision by going to motivational seminars; com- panies can hire management consultants to formulate their vision. Countries can enlist the help of scholars to brainstorm on the strategic future vision. Do you define yourself by your limitations or by your strengths? Do you have a big pile of excuses that you use regularly to justify your lack of success due to your limitations? If we don’t continue to learn, grow, and develop, we’ll potentially be left behind and will struggle to stay afloat.

  Swoop, charge, and pounce immediately upon opportunity Just because you can attack, doesn’t mean that you should. When a golden eagle sees its prey, it readies itself, repositions itself, and launches

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  into action, swooping down silently to grab its dinner. After you have positioned and readied yourself and waited patiently, you have to take advantage of the opportunity to pounce when the time comes with all that you have and grab your chance.

  Are you ready to pounce? When your time comes, will you be ready? Or do you hesitate and watch while the opportunity that you’ve been waiting for walks in the other direction?

  When you sense danger or a crisis, are you positioned and readied for a flight?

  This is a great reminder that ideas and visions without actions are irrel- evant. There are a lot of people in the world who have had billion-dol- lar ideas to rival Bill Gates, Mukesh Ambani, or Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov. Their ideas are just as revolutionary, ingenious, and extraor- dinary as these richest men across the globe. Because of lack of action, they have no success because the real world and life reward action. Therefore, don’t forget to get going when you notice an opportunity or a prey to utilize your unique skills. Only the ones who sit and wait get hungry.

  Life rewards action. There’s no point in preparing yourself for the next level if you don’t have the confidence and initiative to go for it.

  Life Lessons f r om nature

  Case B How to Swim with the Sharks and Stay Alive

  This is a great analogy of keeping ahead of your competition in the world of sports, business, and politics. The rise of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—the so-called BRICS—is a testament of sur- vival in the cutthroat international competition.

  Be constantly on the prowl

  We live in a world that is going through dramatic and constant change. If we don’t continue to learn, grow, and develop, we’ll potentially be left behind and will struggle to stay afloat.

  Scan the horizon for prey

  Sharks have an extraordinary sense of smell and are able to sense blood in the water from miles away. Are you on the constant lookout for op- portunities? Where others see a problem, do you see a chance to find innovative solutions? Is every interaction another opening to put your best foot forward?

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  Armed to the teeth with the latest technology and equipment

  Sharks are well equipped with

  • Rows of razor-sharp teeth

  • A streamlined body that’s built for speed

  How are you equipped for success in your chosen field of endeavor? Do your skills match the work that you’re doing? Do you find yourself working in your areas of strength the majority of the time?

  Chapter 3 A World of Various

  Temptations

  8

  Case A Stoat Kills Rabbit Ten Times Its Size by First

  Mesmerizing the Rabbit

  The rabbit vows to resist… Being ten times larger, it can always out run the stoat. It always assesses and analyzes the situations at hand. No movement of the stoat will escape its eyes. When the stoat comes to close range, it will just take off and leave the stoat far behind. By all logic and precaution, the rabbit can never be the meal of the stoat. The mysterious stoat in the far side is obviously having some ulterior motives. I, the rabbit, with all my agility and intelligence, will never allow this small ugly scoundrel to take my life. The stoat will be much mistaken if he believes me to be so naive I can be dealt with easily.

  The stoat knows that there is no way he will outrun the rabbit. He starts to formulate a strategy.

  He starts to do some strange, otherworldly dance moves. The stoat on the hunt will go nuts, and this maniac behavior gets the rabbit’s atten- tion, who could ignore a stoat that is spinning, jumping, and twisting. He rises and he falls. He tumbles and he flips. He zigzags and meanders.

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  He jumps and slides. All the dashing and thrashing hypnotizes the rab- bit, holds it spellbound, uncertain of the spectacle unfolding before it.

  In the meantime, the stoat is moving closer and closer to the rabbit, shortening their distance by each dance move. With the rabbit com- pletely spellbound, the stoat closes in for the kill. It dances closer and closer to the rabbit until it can deliver the killing stroke.

  Do we drink too much because each time it is harmless to just have another glass?

  Do we smoke too much because each cigarette only takes five minutes of our life away?

  Have we spent too much money in the casinos thinking we can beat the odds?

  Have we spent too much on store discounts, savings, special offers and buy many things that we don’t need?

  Are we too high in the heat of the moment, making us give in to ex- tramarital affairs?

  Are we too careless in the sway of the moment, making us break the law?

  Even small and harmless addictions like Facebook browsing, junk TV program watching, and gossiping on a cell phone are eventually going to kill our time, and eventually our well-being as a progressive and proud individual.

  Do not be mesmerized by the seemingly innocuous harms that these temptations do to you.

  Life Lessons f r om nature

  Case B Mice in Mousetraps

  A group of mice were traveling through a new household, and two of them got trapped by mousetraps.

  When the other mice saw how big the traps were, they told the two mice that they were as good as dead. The two mice ignored the com- ments at first and tried to pull out of the traps with all their might.

  The other mice kept telling them to give up, that they were as good as dead.

  Finally, one of the mice took heed to what the other mice were saying and gave up.

  The other mouse continued to jump as hard as he could.

  Once again, the crowd of mice yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He pulled even harder and finally made it out.

  When he got out, the other mice said, “Did you not hear us?”

  The mouse explained to them that he had mud in his ears and couldn’t hear them. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

  At the same time, the owner of the household arrived at the scene and caught the mouse in the trap.

  This story is a reminder that our words have immense power: they have the power to encourage and to discourage.

  How we interpret them also gives them power. We can respond to words of discouragement and just give up, or we could listen to those who cheer us on and achieve greater things than we could have pos- sibly imagined.

  Which words do you use with others?

  And how do you interpret the messages given to you?

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  Case C Examples of Pheromones

  Used by Insects and Spiders

  Pheromones have long been known to be important to the lives of insects in mating, as witnessed, for example, in some of the larger silk- worm family moths, where males are noted to travel nearly 30 miles to a female, following a pheromone trail in the air. Male cecropia moths are estimated to detect and respond to a few hundred mo
lecules of pheromone in a cubic centimeter of air.

  The detection of the earliest signs of opportunity and trouble plays a huge part of the animals’ survival. It is also true in our competitive world.

  Sometimes, we find ourselves in challenging situations when it’s dif- ficult to find the opportunities that we need to move forward.

  But if you are focused on looking for them, you can find them.

  Even in the worst of economic situations, there are job vacancies and business opportunities.

  Even in the most fractured of relationships, there are opportunities to build trust.

  Life Lessons f r om nature

  Even where it seems as though there is no hope, there are choices that can be made to make your situation better.

  However desperate your situation is, there are always options.

  They can be hard to see, hard to find, seemingly impossible to detect. But if you stay focused, if you remain open to the possibilities and if

  you look really hard, you’ll find them.

  What do you need to hear or see at the moment? Look hard.

  Listen carefully.

  Persist in your endeavors.

  You’ll find what you need and when you do, you’ll know what to sense for when opportunity strikes again.

  Chapter 4 Out of Sticky Situations

  8

  Case A When You Are Ambushed

  by a Pride of Lionesses

  Lion are the only truly social cats and adult females typically hunt in pairs or groups. When hunting favored prey such as wildebeest or ze- bra, lions usually stalk to within 30 meters before rushing at them. In most cases the lions will wait until the quarry has turned away or has its head down. Once it detects danger, the victim bolts but it may be too late.

  Sometimes, a group of lionesses works together to ambush their prey, with the strongest member of the pride lying in wait as its partners force the prey to run in its direction. When you get ambushed, you will hear roars coming from almost all three sides. Some of the roars are extremely loud and some of the roars are not so loud. It is very pos- sible that you deduce logically from the loudness of the roars to decide which direction to flee. In your experience, usually the strongest person

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  makes the loudest roar. Therefore you run towards the side where there seem to be no roars. And this is how you got tricked by the pack of lionesses.

  As the lioness ages, her stamina becomes weaker. She is less forceful and agile. However, her ability to roar increases tremendously. The ar- eas corresponding to the loudest roars are where the old lionesses are. They are deliberately trying to trick you into running into the strongest lioness, which is usually much younger and stronger and has a much softer roar. Given the dire situation, one is hard pressed to make logical deductions or any creative thinking.

  We all know a parallel situation. We all know that the eye of the storm is the quietest part of the storm and is the most dangerous part of the storm. There are many fears in real life. We all have something that we are afraid of:

  • the fear of failure or rejection

  • the insecurities of our financial situation

  • the strain of our important relationships

  • the opinions of others towards us

  • the gradually deteriorating health situations of our family members or ourselves

  Sometimes, the things that we fear cause less carnage than obvious dan- gers; however, they are still there to impede our happiness.

  • Are you afraid of starting a business that doesn’t work?

  • Are you afraid of getting your heart broken again?

  • Are you afraid of making a difference in the world?

  • Are you afraid of change?

  As in the case of being ambushed by circumstances, accidents, emer- gencies, and exigencies, we must really face the problem head on. Usually the easiest way out is not the best way out. When you run away from the supposed strongest fears, they chase after you with the

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  most severity. They hunt you down like the strongest lioness in the ambush.

  Case B When the Weather Gets Stormy, the Buffalo

  Charges and the Cow Cowers

  In the American Midwest, cow herds exist side by side with buffalo herds. They are both strong-willed animals with powerful stamina and vigor. They both have a great capacity for pain endurance. Even though similar in many respects, they have a distinctly different approach to the situations of incoming inclement weather. As rain clouds gather in the sky and lightning flashes, both the buffalo and cows prepare for their flight solutions.

  The cows try to run away from the storm. In trying to leave the dire situation as fast as possible, they run away from the gathering brewing storm in the same direction of the approaching storm. Initially, they

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  have a break as the storm does not catch up with them. However, the brewing storm soon catches up with them. Now the cows are frantic and run faster. At the same time the storm also gathers speed. Since both parties gather speed, the cows are eventually overshadowed by the storm for a prolonged period of time, mostly basking in the rain and wind of the storm as they move together in the same direction. The cows get at least twice the shower for twice the duration.

  The buffalos treat the problem in a completely opposite way to the cows. To face this desperate situation of the incoming brewing storm, the buffalo charges toward it. Initially the torrential lash of the rain and wind almost reaps their bodies apart. It also seems nonsensical that they are running towards this source of extreme excruciating exigency. The pain is unbearable. However, not for long. As the buffalo and the storm depart in totally opposite directions, the trial is over in a rela- tively short period of time. The buffalo gets through the storm with half the shower and half the duration.

  Whenever we are confronted with a tough challenge, and a really ex- treme, excruciating exigency that we cannot escape, we should not prolong the torment. By learning from the buffalo’s way of charging towards the storm, the problem that we must face, we reduce the im- mensity and extent of our suffering. This is a great lesson that the cows have never learned from their own mistakes or the clever crisis exit strategy of the buffalo. This is a great lesson that the cows have never learned for centuries; in fact, in the thousands and thousands of years of their existence.

  We do have many people that surround us with the buffalo and cow mentality—the charging mentality and the cowering mentality. And many of them are prepared to take their mentality to the graves with them. They will not change their way of dealing with problems their whole life.

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  Working through tough times isn’t easy. It always seems more comfort- able to turn the other way and try to outrun the storm. But invari- ably, the problem won’t go away, it just lasts longer and gets worse. We need to turn and face it head on. When life seems like a storm, be the buffalo.

  We will end up in better shape than the cow, much sooner!

  Case C Hamsters Facing Cyclical Changes of

  Life on a Wheel

  Hamsters are unable to learn new skills for the most part and have nothing better to do than run around on those little wheels in their cage. They think they achieve something, because things are always moving forward. Even though they enjoy the thrill of the ride, even- tually they come back to the original point with nothing significant achieved.

  Life on planet Earth had undergone five Mass-Level Extinction Events before. Yet very few of us are aware that we are in the midst of the Sixth Extinction-Level Event. Expansionist Germany tried to conquer Europe in WWI, but was crushed vehemently. Coming back to the same circle and circular reasoning after two decades, Germany was again crushed in WWII by the same countries that participated in WWI.

  Life Lessons f r om nature

  It is said
that people who are unable to learn from the mistakes of his- tory are prone to repeat it.

  This may not be true. People learned from the mistakes of history. They learned how to make even more mistakes.

  Many people live on recurring cycles of procrastination to procrastina- tion to procrastination, refusing to master the will and effort to deal with their problems.

  Many people change their jobs or careers all too often, moving from a cycle of jobs to another cycle.

  Many people are constantly breaking up in their relationships and changing boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, and wives in an unend- ing cycle to find the ultimate “true love.”

  Investors are on a constant cycle of investing when the market is about to go bust.

  Consumers spend too much money on coupons, discounts, and special promotions to get many things they don’t even use. They could not curb their cyclical behavior of buying impulsively.

  People who get obese through endless cycles of snacks, desserts, and meals just don’t seem to have enough food all the time.