#075 THE SHARK AND THE BAIT FISH
Have you ever wondered what is stopping you from doing something that you truly want or getting something that you have always wanted to have? What is holding you back from making a move and starting to make your way to your goals? How many excuses do you still have to tell yourself just so you could feel better about not taking that big leap?
During a research experiment a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank.
As you would expect, the shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and ate the smaller fish.
The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the tank, creating two separate partitions. She then put the shark on one side of the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other.
Again, the shark quickly attacked. This time, however, the shark slammed into the fiberglass divider and bounced off. Undeterred, the shark kept repeating this behavior every few minutes to no avail. Meanwhile, the bait fish swam around unharmed in the second partition. Eventually, about an hour into the experiment, the shark gave up.
This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks. Each time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the bait fish, until eventually the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass divider and simply stopped attacking altogether.
The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn’t attack. The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the bait fish, so the bait fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.
The moral: Many of us, after experiencing setbacks and failures, emotionally give up and stop trying. Like the shark in the story, we believe that because we were unsuccessful in the past, we will always be unsuccessful. In other words, we continue to see a barrier in our heads, even when no ‘real’ barrier exists between where we are and where we want to go.
In a nutshell, after we experience obstacles, setbacks and failures, we tend to feel discouraged, dejected and disillusioned. We also tend to internalize and personalise our failures. That is to say, rather than thinking that we failed at something, we tend to think that we are the failures. In other words, rather than being events in our life, our failures become our identities. We let these failures emotionally wreck us when the only key is to just keep on brushing off the dirt and getting back up from the ground.
In a nutshell, after we experience obstacles, setbacks and failures, we tend to feel discouraged, dejected and disillusioned. We also tend to internalize and personalise our failures. That is to say, rather than thinking that we failed at something, we tend to think that we are the failures. In other words, rather than being events in our life, our failures become our identities. We let these failures emotionally wreck us when the only key is to just keep on brushing off the dirt and getting back up from the ground.
In my opinión, the text is about as sometimes it can happen that problems overwhelm us and many times , even, they identify us. the shark represents a person who give up and want not take risks. the text helps us reflec about ours life. despite the difficulties, with effort and dedication , we can overcomes the problems. finally, our goals must be the motivation we need to carry out daily activities.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIt is an excellent reading to meditate on one's life, many times we surrender very quickly to see that our objectives can not be reached, and this causes in most cases depressions in the future, telling oneself 'if only I ... ', every person can achieve any goal, we just need to believe that we can do it and not give up quickly because nothing in life is easy, as our parents say: Nobody was born knowing.
ReplyDeleteCarlos Figueroa
Hi i am andres in basic , i think the read it was awesome, the shark learn dont eat the bait fishes, dont give up never, NEVER
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this text ,I couldn´t agree more with the reflection. A lot of people use to quit trying after a mischief,
ReplyDeletenot because they may have a bad approach or strategy but because they internalize the failure and discourage them.
Sometimes our mind is like this piece of fiberglass for a lack of self confidence.For example, when we were kids we were taught that failing is a bad thing ,
conditioning our self confidence on winning or losing. But in life things are very different,there are always different ways to accomplish your goals and fulfill your
dreams even in the worst case scenarios. Actually, I think failing is a great opportunity to question ourselfs and the way we are doing things in order to find better solutions and keep persevering.
In any case, its better to have tryied to accomplish our dreams and fail than passing the rest of your life repeating yourself : " what if... "
After reading this text,I couldn´t agree more with the reflection. A lot of people use to quit trying after a failure,
ReplyDeletenot because they may have a bad approach or strategy but because they internalize the failure and discourage them.
Sometimes our mind is like this piece of fiberglass for a lack of self confidence.For example, when we were kids we were taught that failing is a bad thing,
conditioning our self confidence on winning or losing. But in life things are very different,there are always different ways to accomplish your goals and fulfill your
dreams even in the worst case scenarios. Actually, I think failing is a great opportunity to question ourselfs and the way we are doing things in order to find better solutions and keep persevering.
In any case, it´s better to have tried to accomplish our dreams and fail than passing the rest of your life repeating yourself : "what if..."
Honestly; this story give us a lot to think about and I know that more than one of us have ever felt like shark, feeling that helplessness of not being able to meet your goals for the simple fact that we're afraid of failing. I take an example: Once a few years ago I was a competitive shooter video game player and the first local tournaments in my community I lost until one day I almost gave up because I always failed but, one day I said to myself if I really want to be a champion and stand out more and that is how it was, I made an effort every day more and more until I became a national champion. We never give up and if we fail at least we are left with the satisfaccion that we gave everything to fullfill.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThis text called me attention a lot, because it was about a shark. After reading the story I understood that if at some point we cannot do something, it does not mean that we will never be able to do it, because we will always have an experience, so the next time we try we will know "where not to go" .
This is a very good reflection that can be done, because there are many people who, after failing, stop trying.
The text made me think about how sometimes when things don't go right, I can feel like I can't do anything. It's like when the shark kept bumping into the clear wall in the water experiment. I've felt stuck like that before, where past mistakes make me feel like I can't try again.
ReplyDeleteBut I've also learned that it's important to not give up. Instead of letting mistakes make me feel bad about myself, I try to learn from them. It's like how the shark could have realized there was no wall anymore and kept swimming. I remind myself that mistakes are just part of learning.
So, even when things don't go as planned, I tell myself to keep trying. It's about not letting bad moments stop me from reaching my goals.