The Monkey’s Dilemma…

Do you sometimes feel “stuck” in some parts of your life, business or career?

Consider the phenomenon and metaphor of how hunters in Africa  catch a monkey. In Africa, when hunters want to catch a monkey, they use a strategy that  understands the monkey’s behavior patterns — patterns that work against the monkey’s best interests.

The hunter takes a jar with an opening slightly larger than a monkey’s hand. He ties a rope around the neck of it using a knot, called a monkey’s  knot which is a cradle of the rope around the jar.  The hunter places some  food in the glass jar, like rice or a banana slice.

The monkey reaches his hand into the jar, grabs the food, making a fist with his paw. Now, the monkey’s dilemma:  the monkey cannot get his hand out of the jar  unless he drops the food. The neck of the jar is simply not wide enough. Of course, the monkey could drop the food and easily get his hand out, but  it won’t. Despite having at his command the means to escape, it does not — it holds  his hand grasping the food until a hunter throws a net over it, capturing it.

Relevance to you and me? Ever held on to something that you should’ve let  go?

So many people don’t know when to let go, and move on. This can  happen in relationships, when one holds one way beyond when they should let go, and move on.

It happens in business when you get one of those customers from Hades, and  not worth the time, pain and effort to keep them.

Hard to let them go, yes  — but totally necessary. Survival is the first way of business, and there may be customers that you don’t want or need. Are there outdated methods, beliefs or habits that you’re holding on to, that are not moving you forward?

Stuff lying around the office or house that should be thrown away? Part of what keeps us from reaching our potential is holding on to old  beliefs that don’t move us toward our dreams — with our fist stuck in the  jar. Take a serious look at your life — your work or personal life — and decide what needs to be “let go.”

Letting Go can actually open up your mind to new opportunities and dimensions that you may have thought never existed.

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