(Photo via Smarter)

There is this old analogy that goes something like this:

Two guys are hiking and they see a grizzly bear that starts to chase them. The first guy starts running.
“What are you doing?” shouts the second guy. “You can’t outrun a grizzly!”
“I don’t have to outrun the grizzly,” the first guy yells over his shoulder. “I just have to outrun you!”

Perhaps this isn’t the type of story that models a strong bond in friendship between two individuals and upon reading this, one might think it is rather selfish of the first guy to try to outrun the second guy and not try to save him too. But if we look at it from the perspective of our own pursuit to achieve success, we will see that we need to help ourselves before we can help others.

In her blog called Compassionate Selfishness, Sonia Simone tells us there is nothing wrong with being successful. We should cast away our fear of success and our guilt of being successful so that others benefit from it — there’s nothing selfish about it. We can’t help a blind man to walk if we’re blind ourselves. But what we can do is get a guide dog that will help both of us to “see” where we’re going.

I’ve often found that people will help those who try to help themselves. The inaction of the second guy in the analogy probably didn’t help him much as the bear might’ve mauled him in no time. I’m not saying that we mustn’t help our fellow neighbour when they ask for it but there is only so much we can do when we’re not fully prepared. We owe it to ourselves to enrich our lives with the knowledge and skills to equip us with the armour to succeed and propel change. Finally, we should share in each other’s success so that everyone will have the opportunity to be successful.  We help each other succeed by succeeding ourselves.

“We help each other succeed by succeeding ourselves”

Marianne Williamson’s poem is a true reflection of our merit to succeed:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

If we want to save the world, we need to be the best we can be.

Thank you for coming by again! Remember to sign up for 21 tips on productivity, job search and business (1 tip every 2 weeks while staying tuned for the FREE versions of the business planning and job search eBooks when they come out) by signing up for the newsletter (Click Here) or stay up to date through RSS. Thanks for visiting!

Technorati Tags: Education, Life, Personal Development, psychology