Business Lessons from Under The Sea...

Or should I say aquarium. Let me explain. My daughter recently convinced my husband and I to buy her a couple of goldfish. At first I was apprehensive but I have to admit I've come to enjoy having these little aquatic additions around.

Earlier this evening I was relaxing with my family and watching "Nemo and Dory", as my daughter has lovingly named them, do their thing in our little aquarium. As I watched them, I witnessed something I've been observing for a while now and realized that how they were living in their own little world applied to business and life. Here is what I observed:

One of these fish is very active. A real go getter. Always swimming around exploring every inch of the aquarium and is the first one to arrive for every meal. The other fish is much more relaxed. Sort of hangs out near the bottom. Swims around a little but doesn't have a whole lot of ambition and doesn't really seem to care what's going on around him.

Fish number one always gets first dibs at feeding time because he pays close attention to what's going on. Fish number two lets life pass him by and finds himself scrounging around looking for bits of food that fall to the bottom in between the rocks.

Fish Lesson #1
Opportunities happen all the time. But by paying attention to what is happening around you, you'll be the first on the scene to grab them when they present themselves.

Fish Lesson #2
By choosing to wait for life to happen to you rather than going after it, you are forced to eat other "fish's" leftovers.

Fish Lesson #3
When you live under status quo conditions you become complacent and eventually you stop even trying to go after anything because you know that sooner or later some sort of morsel will trickle down to you. Sure you're getting fed but you'll never know if there's anything better out there for you because you are allowing yourself to be satisfied with the way things are.

Fish Lesson #4
By failing to plan accordingly and take advantage of opportunities when they arise you're forced to hunt for them between the rocks which actually requires more effort than if you had planned ahead and grabbed them when they first appeared.

Fish Lesson #5
By not taking action immediately, the other fish have already eaten and are on to the next thing by the time you are just getting started.

Fish Lesson #6
If you refuse to pay attention to your environment and don't look for opportunities everywhere you eventually find yourself swimming around in circles wondering why you can't seem to move forward.

Who knew when we brought these two little creatures home they would teach me so much? I thought they would simply provide hours of entertainment for the cats. Speaking of the cats, one of them is sitting on the arm of my chair looking at me like "What's up with the fish being featured in a blog post? What about me?" LOL Perhaps I will do a business lesson post from the cat's perspective some time.

So which fish will you be this week? I think I know which one I'll be! Have a fantastic week everyone!

Jackie

P.S. Getting a decent picture of my actual fish at night was next to impossible so I opted for a stock photo :)