The Legs
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 11 Mar 2010, 12:10 AM – 11 Comments
Take a table with one leg. It is not very stable. You can push it a bit and topple it over. Now put another leg and the table becomes a bit more stable. Add two more legs and make all the four legs stronger and now you have a reasonably stable table. It’s hard to shake it and topple it.
Now think about your dream and the reason not to pursue it. If there is one reason, you can shake it off easily. Add more reasons (no money, no experience, no connections etc.) and then you have a stronger reason to NOT pursue your vision. Without our knowledge day in and day out, we keep adding more reasons to NOT pursue our vision and soon unconsciously we start believing that our dream and our life are different – the cards you have been handed just not make it easy to pursue your dream. It’s just fate.
So, what could you do?
Two things:
First, systematically remove the legs (reasons) for NOT pursuing your dreams. The more legs (reasons) you remove, easier it is to break the resistance (topple the table) to pursue the dream.
Second, use the same principle in the opposite fashion. Start finding legs (reasons) for pursuing your passion. The more legs (reasons) you find, the stronger the conviction (table) to pursue the dream. To start the journey, simply start finding a second reason to do anything important.
All the best.
Photo Courtesy: bbaunach at Flickr
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11 Comments so far, Add Yours
Rajesh Setty on March 11th, 2010
Yes for sure Ivan. Please don’t take the metaphor literally 
You got the point right
Best,
Rajesh
Ivan Walsh on March 11th, 2010
good point
<the cards you have been handed just not make it easy to pursue your dream. It’s just fate.
my religious teacher once said to us, ‘it’s not the hand you’ve been dealt that matters, but how you play your hand.’
He meant it is your attitude that matters, e.g. to setbacks, circumstances, friction and conflict.
Ravi Char on March 12th, 2010
My uncle once mentioned a profound point. It is easy to take an “Anti” stand on anything because you don’t have do much!
If you take a “For” stand you have to expend your resources to accomplish the desired state.
Dave Doolin on March 12th, 2010
Analogy works for relationships as well.
Stable relationship needs three solid legs to survive. What those are are subject to some debate (but not much, staying on topic here).
Lose a leg, relationship is in trouble.
This is true for both business and romantic relationships.
Rajesh Setty on March 13th, 2010
@Ravi – Loved that advice.
@Dave – For sure. Thanks for pointing that out.
Cheers,
Rajesh
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Leave a Comment
Ivan Walsh on March 11th, 2010
Nice one Rajesh,
One of the odd things here in China (for a westerner, anyway) is that many chairs/stools have three legs not four.
What’s the point?
The point is you don’t have to wait until you have all four legs, sometimes three will do.
Ivan
Beijing