A Parable for 2014 - The Silence of the Pigs...

Once Upon a Time...

...in Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany there lived a farmer and his family. With his wife they had a son and a daughter and lived on the edge of the Black Forest growing vegetables and fruit for sale at the local market...

The Farmer was called Fear, his wife was Denial the Son was called Excuse and the Daughter was Doubt...

Life was tough, there was not much money left for luxuries, and each New Year they would sit and discuss how next year would be better than the last, and what they would do if only they had a little more money...

The farmers wife had an idea; in addition to the crops that they grew, they could get a Pig and fatten it up for sale at the Market the following Christmas. Meat fetched a much better price than vegetables and they could feed the Pig on leftovers and scraps.

So one January morning the family went off to market and chose a baby Pig. It was small and cute with a curly tail and would grow into a big fat Porker by the following Christmas and could be sold as chops and steaks for a handsome profit...

When the Pig arrived at the Farm, the children immediately gave it a name - they called him Unsitte and placed him in his pen with plenty of food and fresh water.

Unsitte became part of the family, he would be taken for walks and became well known in the local villages. He had the best food and would be brought in to the house to sit by the fire when the weather was cold or wet.

Over the following months, Unsitte grew big and fat - he became so big that he couldn't fit through the door of the farmhouse anymore; he would fetch a fine price at the market and would enable the family to have the best Christmas ever...

As Christmas approached, the family began to plan what gifts they wanted, and how they would spend the money that would result when Unsitte was butchered and sold. Clothes, tools, fine foods and even books and a new pair of boots were put onto the list; this was indeed going to be a Christmas to remember... 

Grand plans were made and the list was even pinned to the wall in the Kitchen for everyone to see - the family started to visualise their new belongings, and even told their friends and family about what they would be getting for Christmas...



And so December arrived in Baden-Wurttemburg...

Someone had to kill Unsitte; someone had to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger and then cut him up into pieces so he could be sold at the Market the following week.

Fear approached Unsitte but couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger - being scared of the outcome was too much to bear, and he decided that doing nothing was an easier option.

Denial looked at Unsitte in his pen - and decided that they would make do with what they had and that life was not so bad anyway and money and success wasn't for the likes of them anyway.

Excuse looked at the Unsitte and decided that the time wasn't right and they should wait until Easter when he would be even bigger and fetch more money...

Doubt decided that Unsitte was really a nice creature and had become part of the family so should not be killed at all - she was unsure of how much money would be made anyway and decided that the risk was to great so decided to keep him...

The problem was that no one would kill Unsitte the Pig - the simple solution to the family's financial woes was avoided because Fear, Denial, Excuse and Doubt had built up such a strong relationship with Unsitte that they couldn't be without him. 

Unsitte stayed with the family for many years. He got bigger, uglier and stronger while the family stayed poor and continued to struggle. Each year the family had the same dreams and each year they avoided taking the simple steps that would ensure their success. 

They could hear Unsitte Oinking and Snorting in his pen through the night as he conspired to keep them awake as a constant reminder of what could have been if only they had the courage to do what they all knew needed to be done...

So the Moral to this tale...

...is that in 2014, setting a Goal and taking Action is not enough to enusre Success - you will need to overcome Fear, Denial, Excuse and Doubt too...

In Business and in Life we all have our own Ugly Pigs called Unsitte that we know we really need to kill off, the challenge is never that we don't know what the Pig looks like or where it is to be found ; it's always that we choose avoid doing it because it is simply too tough or our relationship with our chosen Pig is so strong that it defines us as individuals...

...so this year - don't just set a Goal; commit to the Actions you need to take to ensure your Success...

In 2014 - It's time for the silence of your Pigs... 

Happy New Year from the Team at Results Rules OK...

Have a fabulous 2014 and join us at our events to get your year off to a flying start...

Birmingham 24th January 2014 - LINK 

Luxembourg 17th January 2014 - LINK

Come along, meet the team and have an Inspiring Day with other like minded Professionals - we look forward to seeing you there...

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