Feeling stuck or “on pause”? Don’t let your current situation get you down!

The other day I was watching the animals in my backyard. As an animal lover I have a bird feeder and a squirrel feeder (because, you know, you can’t keep the squirrels out of a birdfeeder, so I just make sure there is something for everyone). And I witnessed something that caused me to pause; I saw a little grey chipmunk, maybe 3” long and very tiny, go head-to-head with a big brown squirrel who was easily 3 or 4 times his size. They were fighting over who was going to win the right to dine on the peanuts. I watched this, marvelling at the ferocity of the little, tiny chipmunk. He was just not giving up. He took on this squirrel and he won! The squirrel ran away, and the tiny chipmunk jumped up onto the feeder and commenced filling his cheeks with his prize.

As I stood there watching this chipmunk, it occurred to me that there were a couple of very important lessons to learn. First of all, the chipmunk won! His opponent was bigger, stronger and weighed a lot more than the chipmunk, but the chipmunk still took him on and won. Why? Because the chipmunk didn’t know that he couldn’t win. As an animal he doesn’t have the ability like we humans do to know that the odds are against him. He wanted the food and the squirrel was in his way. The chipmunk won because he didn’t focus on a negative outcome.

Think about it…if the chipmunk were human, what would he have thought? As a human his brain would have rationalized the situation, and in fear of being injured or even killed he probably would have just scampered away, as many humans do when they are fearful. Does any of this sound familiar to you? I believe we do this to ourselves.

Our human ability to rationalize and apply logic often prevents us from going after the very things we truly want. We believe that we don’t deserve it, or it will never happen, or we will fail. And instead of trying, instead of working toward what we want, we give up before we even start. Perhaps we should be like that chipmunk. That chipmunk won because he didn’t focus on losing – it was not an option. So what do you think you would do or try if the thought of failure was not holding you back? Today, go out and be a chipmunk! Take on whatever it is that scares you and even if it doesn’t work out, you have broken out of your rut and you have practiced overcoming your fears for the next time. After all, you know what they say: each failure brings you closer to success!!

Which brings us to the second lesson from the Chipmunk and the Squirrel: perseverance. 

If you study successful people, however you define success, you will find that they kept at it. Success didn’t come on the first try – it certainly didn’t for me. You have to work at it. You have to continue to try, to refine, to test new ideas and new approaches. That’s how you find success. Not by trying it once and giving up! Keep at it. What is it you really want? What are you sick and tired of? You can change it!

It’s high time we stopped letting our own self-limiting beliefs, such as our fear of failure and of not being perfect, dictate our future. We don’t have to stay stuck in our unhappiness, self-hatred, misery and poverty. Everyone deserves happiness and prosperity and it’s out there for all of us. The only thing preventing us from achieving it is ourselves. So the next time you find yourself saying things like “I can’t do that”, “it’s never going to work”, “I’m not good enough”– push it away and refuse to listen. Replace “I can’t” with “Yes, I can!” Replace the self-loathing with self-respect and choose for once to believe in a positive outcome. Unless you try, you will always stay stuck.

Take it from someone who spent 20 years living on the street - you will never know what’s truly possible until you just try!

For more information or to book Susan for your next event please contact:

Sally Melnyk, Client Services, Susan Armstrong International

[email protected]