Why The Squirrel Kept Winning
I had the good fortune (or misfortune depending on your climate
perspective) of living in Minnesota for ten years. The Summers
were beautiful, Fall was spectacular with the changing colors of
the leaves on trees and winter was,...well, damn cold. My
neighbor, Harold was a nice old guy who had retired many years
ago who hibernated all winter but loved to garden during the
summer. The only time I saw Harold come out of his house was to
put some bird food in the feeder he'd setup on his tree in the
front yard. Every year, as winter began to set in, I would see
squirrels all around our front lawns gathering food. They'd
scurry around digging and prodding hoping to fill their jowls
with some food and return to their hole. One day I saw Harold
putting some metal sheets around the base of his tree where he
kept his bird feeder. I didn't understand why until another
neighbor explained to me that Harold was trying to keep the
squirrels from eating the bird food. By putting the metal sheets
around the base Harold thought the squirrels wouldn't be able to
climb up the tree. The next morning, the food was gone. Later
that week I saw him wrap a jagged funnel around the base of the
tree. It looked like those funnels dog's wear around their neck
so it won't bite or lick its wounds. Well imagine one of those
wrapped around the tree with the wide part pointing down with
jagged edged. It looked like something out of a Frankenstein
flick. Yet, the next day, the food was gone. The following week
Harold figured he'd put the bird feeder on a string and hang it
from the tip of one of the branches. I believe his thinking was
that the squirrel couldn't go out to the edge of the branch
because the branch wouldn't support the weight thereby not
allowing the squirrel to get to the feeder. Next day, you got
it, the food was gone. This battle between Harold and the
squirrel went on for at least the 10 years I was his neighbor. I
wanted to tell Harold that his attempts were futile and that he
would never win this 'War of the Feeder'; but I didn't say
anything. I just watched. It was cheap entertainment. As this
was happening, I started thinking about how unfair the match up
was between a man and a squirrel. I didn't feel sorry for the
squirrel...I felt sorry for Harold. Although Harold was stronger
and smarter than the squirrel, he lacked the one quality that
would guarantee him victory, focus. You see Harold thinks about
ways of preventing the squirrel from getting the food on
occasion, when he has time. The squirrel on the other hand has
its mind on getting that food 24 hours a day. The squirrel's
very survival depends on it. Survival brings about, not just
focus but an intense focus on solving a problem by removing an
obstacle. Unless Harold shows that same level of 24 hour
commitment and intensity, I have my money on the squirrel every
time. Success is not about who is stronger. Success is not about
who has more money. Success is not about who has a better GPA.
Success is about who is more focused and committed to achieving
their objectives. You, the reader, can compete with any person
no matter who they may be. The only thing you have to do is
commit yourself to focusing in on the very subject that
interests you. When you focus in on one thing, like the
squirrel, all of your mind's resources are directed at attaining
your objective and obtaining your rewards. With focus, you begin
to take in more information quickly because you're interested in
learning, you want know everything. You are consumed by your
focus to succeed! Harold was not an expert in stopping
squirrels; it was a task that needed to be done and he attended
to it when he had time. The squirrel on the other hand became an
expert at bypassing obstacles and solving problems because he
focused all its attention on obtaining the end goal, food. In
today's market, too many people want to be generalist (i.e.,
good at a lot of things or jack of all trades but master of
none). But the market DOES NOT REWARD generalists, they REWARD
experts. The market wants people who are good at doing a
particular task; an expert. You want job security? Become an
expert in your field of expertise. How do you become an expert?
Like the squirrel, you focus. Harold was 92 and died the year we
moved from Minnesota. I don't know how long Harold fought the
'War of the Feeder' but as I drove off on the last day I looked
back and saw a squirrel scurrying around the front lawn still
trying to get to the bird feeder that still hung from the tree.
Harold was gone but the squirrel was still around, still
strategizing and still focused. The squirrel had won!