Person who chases two rabbits catches neither. – Confucius or Romanian Proverb
Which cookie will taste better? How long will it take to count the chocolate chips, calculate the volume, or otherwise analyze the cookies?
What does that mean?
I was surprised that I hadn’t covered this quote yet, when I tried to reference this quote in a recent blog, but couldn’t. The reason might have been the attribution, given by many as Confucius, but only sourced to a Romanian proverb. Rather than chase both possible sources, let’s delve into the quote, shall we?
This is another quote on focus, and it states what can happen when you divide your focus. While catching a rabbit by chasing it is a difficult task to begin with, it is certainly not going to be easier when a second rabbit is included in the chase.
Specifically, what do you do when the two rabbits separate and go different directions? If you are following one in preference to the other, you ignore the other and follow your rabbit.
If you are still trying to following both, the tendency is to try to follow both, and split the difference between their paths. That leads to you going straight when one went left and the other went right. In short, chasing both means you loose both.
Why is a clear decision important?
The rabbit conundrum is an illustration of a failure to decide. The word decide has the same Latin root as scissors and incision – to cut. In this case, you are cutting off debate and selecting one of the options available to you, and cutting off the other routes.
In short, you commit your focus and your action to the path you have chosen. If you aren’t certain, if you have not committed, if your decision is not firm, you face the rabbit dilemma. What will you do when you have an option open up? You will have to make another decision, and lose time, and probably both opportunities.
That doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind. But you should make a strong case that what you are doing is no longer in your best interests, and that you should be pursuing a different rabbit. But stay focused on your rabbit, or you will be forever chasing and never catching. And that doesn’t sound like fun to me.
Where can I apply this in my life?
I differentiate between being unable to make a decision between the rabbits and consciously trying to catch both rabbits. While the end result may be the same, a hungry hunter, there are differences.
As an example, have you ever had someone throw two things to you? How many times do you look back and forth between the objects trying to figure out which one to catch? By the time you have decided, how often is it too late?
On the other hand, if you decide up front that you will try to catch both of them at the same time, how well does that work for you? Yes, there are people with that talent. But most of us do not. In both cases, we usually miss both objects.
If we make a firm decision to catch one of them, it is usually pretty easy to grab it. But if part way through the arc of travel, we change our mind, it’s going to be a lot harder. And it might be worth the effort if you recognize the other item is a priceless family heirloom, right?
Think back through your life, and try to find times when you couldn’t make up your mind, when you couldn’t decide between some choices, and what the results were of that indecision. It has cost me one job, two cars, several girlfriends, and a host of lesser things over the years.
The difficulty is making the decision with less than perfect information. How do you know if the person is really the right one? There is no way to know except to try, and find out. You will never truly know in advance (although some will say different).
How do you know the mechanical condition of a car without taking it to a mechanic and having a thorough inspection done. But while you wait for perfect information, someone else showed up with cash in hand and drove the car away. Now I’ll never know, right? 8)
We are often ‘stuck’ in analysis paralysis, and that has to stop. We will almost never have all the information we need to make a perfect decision. We must do our best to find out what we can, and then decide. Yes, we need to monitor things, and make sure we notice any signs of trouble.
We are faced with decisions all the time. Choosing wisely is not always easy, but choices must be made. Even choosing not to decide is a choice, right? Take your time, pick a rabbit, and chase it. If it turns out to be too fast, then choose another rabbit.
But for as long as you are chasing that rabbit, no other rabbits exist. If you hop from one rabbit to another, all you will end up with is very sore feet. Gather info. Think. Decide. Focus. Act. Review. Repeat.
From: Twitter, @DavidRoads
confirmed at : http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Romanian_proverbs#C 4th entry
Photo by Wonderlane
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it makes sense
Thanks for stopping by and for leaving a comment. Glad you found it so… logical. 8)