ARJUN Verma is an unhappy young man. He was an outstanding student in engineering college. He landed a plum job with an MNC oil firm. He is admired for his technical acumen. And respected by his colleagues. So why is he unhappy? Arjun desperately wants to do an MBA ! He is convinced that without it his career won’t go anywhere.
For two years now, he has been attending classes and slogging for the CAT exams. But while he’s got interview calls, he hasn’t been able to make the cut. His employers were initially delighted to have hired an outstanding engineer – but are now wondering what’s gone wrong and why he seems distracted and stressed.
Do you sometimes feel like that too? Do you wish you had a degree, or a skill or a trait that’s missing? Do you sometimes worry that you are not successful because you grew up in a small town, or didn’t go to an English medium school or didn’t have rich parents?
Maybe you - and Arjun - should hear the story of the three goats.
It all started on a lazy Sunday afternoon in a little town near Toronto in Canada. Two young school-going friends had a crazy idea. They rounded up three goats from the neighbourhood and painted the numbers 1, 2 and 4 on their sides. They then let loose the goats inside their school building at night.
The next morning, when the authorities entered the school, they could smell something was wrong. They soon saw goat pings on the stairs and near the entrance and knew that some goats had entered the building. A search was immediately launched and very soon, the three goats were found. But the authorities were worried. Where was goat number 3? They then spent the rest of the day looking for goat number 3. There was panic and frustration. The school declared a holiday for the students. Teachers and helpers and the staff and the canteen boy were all busy looking for the goat number 3, which, of course, did not exist.
If you think about it, we are all like those folks in the school. We may have our own goats, but we are forever looking for the elusive, missing, non-existent goat no. 3. And that becomes an obsession. So instead of making the most of what we have and focusing on our strengths – like all successful people do – we get obsessed with the missing piece and worry about our shortcomings. In the build up to the recent World Cup, you might recall there were a lot of people who felt that while the Indian team had a strong batting line-up and an effective bowling attack, it was a weak fielding side. They reckoned that would prove to be a stumbling block. So what did Dhoni and the think-tank do? They didn’t let that worry them too much. Dhoni acknowledged that we could not suddenly become a great fielding side. That’s all. No big deal. They stayed focused on their strengths, scored a lot of runs, and bowled well. And the rest as they say is history.
Not just success. Happiness too is a function of this mindset. Notice how some people are forever unhappy and stressed, and constantly looking for a bigger salary, or a more fancy title, or a bigger car. No time to have fun with the goats they have! Do the best you can – with what you have – and be grateful for what you get. Success and happiness will come your way.
And yes, stop worrying about goat no. 3 !
Prakash Iyer is MD, Kimberly-Clark, and executive coach.
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