Surround yourself with people who will encourage you to think larger, reach farther and push toward excellence in all areas of your life!
Are you living in a bucket of crabs?
There’s something fascinating about crabs and buckets. As a boy, I loved to catch Blue Crabs, so I’ve seen this phenomenon personally. If you put a single crab in a bucket, it will, almost always, succeed at climbing out of the bucket. However, if you put several crabs in a bucket, none of them will escape. The reason none escape is this: as soon as one crab manages to rise above the others to start its climb out, the other crabs will pull it back down into the bucket, so they all suffer the same fate.
It is sad how often this happens in our own lives. I’m no sociologist, but I know it is common for people in a family or community to resent someone trying to improve themselves, when just the opposite should be the case. We often hear phrases like “you think your better than the rest of us?” or “aren’t we good enough for you?” or “once you make it big, you’ll forget all about us.” The guilt trips our so-called friends and family can put on us to keep us from living to our full potential is pathetic.
It is vitally important for your personal development to surround yourself with people who will lift you up, maybe even pull you up out of the bucket so you can achieve your goals and reach your dreams. While it may be difficult to physically remove yourself from a negative environment, there are many things you can still do. Feed your brain on positive resources. Read blogs and books by people who inspire you or who, themselves, have risen to success despite a negative or difficult environment. Listen to motivational recordings whenever you can. Attended lectures or conferences about self-development, goal setting, and improving your communication skills.
You can rise to the top and climb up out of the bucket! Just keep our eyes on the goal and ride on the shoulders of those of us who want to lift you up, cheer you on, and who want to see you to think larger, reach farther and push toward excellence in all areas of your life!
This is one of my daily “LifeThoughts” posts. If you enjoyed this, or any of my other posts, I’d be honored if you’d share it with your friends and followers!
Do you agree or disagree with what I’ve written? I’d love to hear your comments!
Words of wisdom, be blessed
You’re absolutely right – we have to surround ourselves with the right people. Not necessarily “yes” people, but people who are willing to encourage us, challenge us, and refine us.
I totally agree. I’m lucky enough to have a family that’s very supportive, but when I run across someone in my life who doesn’t want to see anyone else do better, I just tell them “Don’t be a dream-squasher!” I realize the only person who can really stop me is me! So forward I go! I have followed your suggestions-I am a lifetime student of me, reading personal development books, attending seminars, practicing my craft. Finally, at this point in my life, I’m poised and ready to claim my dream. Thanks go to all those who supported my efforts and to those who didn’t but made more determined than ever to make my dream come true!
All true. We should also allow the “crabs in our bucket” to propel us to bigger things. I’ve gotten great motivation in my life from using the negativity of crabs as the inspiration to prove them wrong.