Success – A Hunt

Ever wondered why others are more successful at things that you have always wanted to be yourself? How opportunities come knocking at their door while you have prepared and sought them but nothing has ever happened?

Did you ever pause to wonder if it had something to do with your mindset and your approach?

Did you subconsciously convert the success you desire and your goals you have set into a prey that is always running away from you ?Are you failing because of the laws of nature?

Chasing success/goals turns it/them into a prey

Mother nature teaches us a lot of things. Only if we are willing to observe.

Ever seen a video of a hunt? A cheetah chasing the deer? What direction was the deer running in? Definitely not into the arms of the Cheetah. See the speed and energy exhibited by this predator? But what is the success rate of a cheetah? 70 or 80 percent? No, it is 58% according to a study in Serengeti. Just a little more than half of all attempts.

Now in contrast, observe another hunter in the animal kingdom – an Angler fish. It thrives at depths most fishes don’t even swim at and has a unique style of hunting. At 3000 meters below the sea, where light hardly ever reaches and water temperatures are very low, the anglerfish uses a shiny lure to draw in its target and then snaps it between its teeth at the right moment. The success rate is above 90 percent. It even has an extra large mouth and elasticized stomach in case the prey is too big.

What do these styles teach us? That we can either chase success or we can attract success. All we need to do is work on our approach or our style of hunting. While Some people are more likely to enjoy the  “thrill of the chase” and others more likely to enjoy the “bait and wait” strategy, these choices come with consequences and I am here to tell you why one style in the long run is better than the other.

The Strategy/Approach makes all the difference

When you are chasing your goal like a cheetah does its prey, you are not only expending time and energy but also developing the same sort of predator-prey relationship with your goal. It is going to naturally start going away from you.

Ever heard people around you say “Man, I have been trying for that job so hard! How come they never offer it to me?” or someone at work remark  “I have always wanted to get into that role and have been seeking out opportunities but they never come my way.” All of these are symptoms of a Cheetah style hunting approach where success is running in the other direction.

One of the fundamental requirements for the cheetah is that it has to be running faster than its prey, else by simple laws of physics it will never be able to catch its prey. Unfortunately in the above example, success seems to have a higher speed than its seekers.

Basically you have to be more skilled and more qualified to perform the job/task/role that you are seeking. Working till you build the requisite skill set so that you are more than ready to take the job. Basically under selling yourself and risking over qualification.

Now the angler approach lets you reach your goal too, but with minimal expenditure of energy. Here the goal does not go in the other direction. It comes towards you. Almost magically drawn in.

Ever come across your colleagues telling you things like  “Man, John got chosen for that key project again. I wonder what he is doing differently than me?” or “Their area was again chosen to pilot the new technology, how come mine was not?”

All of these are signs  of someone using the angler approach to success where opportunities seem to have only destination as in the above example.

Again, the fundamental requirement for the angler approach is to make sure your lure is irresistible. If no fish comes towards the lure, the angler will spend a lifetime waiting, starve and die.

Every living being has a finite amount of resources. Finite time, finite willpower, finite energy and enthusiasm. If you are tired of chasing things like me all your life, and expending excessive amounts of energy, then you definitely know which strategy you want to apply.

The Skill Set

The one thing common between the both of them is, no matter what the strategy. They have perfected their skills.

The cheetah in terms of its speed and agility. The angler fish in creating a lure that will attract its desired prey and also being ready if the prey is too large to swallow.

The difference is the kind of prey (Success/Goals) that these approaches lead you to.

The cheetah method requires you to be fast enough to catch your prey. It requires you to assess your goal and prepare just enough to be able to meet it. If you meet your goal, you are good enough. It drives a mind set where an individual limits him or herself after meeting a goal. Never truly allowing themselves to unleash their true potential.

Also, you only hone the skills the job requires. Thereby always pointing you towards goals that do not let one explore what their true capability can be. Thus, forcing you to always take the role/responsibility that is just enough challenging that you think you can handle.

The angler method requires you to identify what skills are needed to be successful for your goal as you need to attract it. There by forcing you to mold yourself into the right candidate for the job. Forcing you to learn and grow and not settle. Forcing you to plan more than  you execute.

This subtle difference in approaches/strategy can make a lasting difference over the course of a lifetime of organizational, business and life choices, shaping one the kind of person they are.

The Result

Cheetah Strategy –

          Approach –

• • You are always chasing your goal.
  • You look for goals that are within the range of your current skill set. Kind of like a fixed mindset.
  • You are always more than ready for the role/position or responsibilities.

 

Side effects –

• • You have spent a lot of time and energy
  • The psychological toll of always chasing and seeing your targets constantly move away

 

Basically means you are settling for mediocrity. This will only result in you not being satisfied in life or the position as you have chased it for a long time and acquired it. Still in the chase, rolling your eyes if this will ever end.

Also, this approach gets harder and harder as you age and your energy levels diminish.

Angler Strategy –

          Approach –

• • You are always finding ways to attract
  • You learn to develop the skills that are required to attract the opportunities towards you. Kind of like a growth mindset.
  • You learn and grow to the required responsibility

 

Side effects – 

• • You will learn and grow skill that you never knew you could
  • Your life might go in a direction you never envisioned

 

Basically it means you are improving constantly. Satisfied in life and the place you are in as you have grown into it. Excited and working to prepare the next lure and attract new things.

 

In Conclusion

I just took two examples of hunting styles from the animal kingdom. There are several others that one can employ based on the career, the goal and the opportunity being sought. At a broad level, I was able to relate with the Cheetah and the Angler. One that chases, while the other attracts.

So ask yourself today. If you have been chasing success, if this is a hunt, then what is your hunting style?