I think, sadly, that it might be human nature to think that there is someone or something coming to “save us” from whatever we face. But there isn’t. We are responsible for our own life outcomes, both personally and professionally.
There is an Aesop’s fable that is so resonant and relevant to my current work circumstances right now that I am compelled to share it and describe its significance. People always wonder and ask about making changes. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there are no hard and fast indications that signify readiness to make changes. However, the Aesop’s fable called, “The Lark and the Farmer” provides insight that is quite useful.
The fable (in my words): There was a family of larks nesting in a Farmer’s corn field. The field had grown unruly and one day the Farmer realized that he need to harvest the corn and clean up the field. “It’s time to reap the field, I’d better get the word out to my friends so that they can help.”
One of the young larks overheard the farmer and became worried that they would soon have to move their nest. The young lark’s mother said, “Don’t worry, a man who looks to his friends for help will take his time about a thing. We don’t have to hurry to move.”
After another weeks or so, corn kernels began to over-ripen and fall to the ground. Upon seeing this, the Farmer realized that he could no longer await his friends for help with the harvest. “I can no longer wait, I will begin to harvest the corn and hire a crew of men to help me, right now.”
When she heard the Farmer, the Mother Lark said to her brood, “Come my children, we must leave at once, for the Farmer has stopped talking of his friend and has now taken matters into his own hand.”
When we simply toy with the idea of making changes, we will probably say things similar to what the Farmer did and hope that something or someone will come along to save us. For example, someone might say, “Once we get the new {enter job title}, we can take on the {insert new initiative},” or “if my husband can stay with me for a week, I’ll detox,” or, “If someone can help me find a rehab center, I’ll try to go.” However, in my experience, when someone is looking for external means to accomplish his or her goals, it shows that he or she can remain passive and not actively pursuing that which he or she claims to seek. Like the Farmer, as they await external “help,” people who wait on others for salvation, they can remain in the status quo and not have to move forward.
However, when someone acts on his or her own behalf and initiates behaviors towards change, without relying on anyone else, then those self-initiated behaviors are pretty good evidence that the person is “ready” to commit to change. Therefore, if you’re wondering if someone is “ready” to change, remember the Lark and the Farmer and measure that fable against the person’s actions. Remember no one is coming to save us…
