Near the beginning of my keynote speeches, I used to tell a story of two wolves vying for attention. It’s been told in many different ways but the gist is, a father was talking to his son and said, “Inside me are two wolves, one is good and one is evil. And they’re fighting day and night for dominance.” The little boy looked up and asked, “Which wolf is going to win dad?” And the father paused and said, “The one I feed.”
A couple of days ago I was reminded yet again of those darn wolves. I have an acquaintance who is selling a piece of property. Seems every few weeks she will call or text me about why something will probably go wrong. If the buyers want to look at the property again before the closing, it’s because they’re going to back out. If there are questions, it will be about something that will be too costly and too challenging to fix.
No matter what the issue, she sees what will, in her mind, inevitably go wrong. Now if you read my comments on Six Hat Thinking a couple of weeks ago, you’ll remember the black hat does just that, but then the wearer takes that hat off and looks at the issue from other perspectives. Those who continually feed the wrong wolf will inevitably get what they don’t want.
It’s natural to worry, but we need to pay attention and redirect that worry, putting our energy and imagination into results-oriented thinking.
“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.” – Leo F. Buscaglia
