Melvin Feller MA Discusses Reasons Why Ants Can Set Better Goals Then We Can
--
Melvin Feller MA Discusses Reasons Why Ants Can Set Better Goals Then We Can
According to Melvin Feller most, entrepreneurs do not like to set like to goals. Melvin Feller suggests that a smarter move would be to learn why ants have a better philosophy than the majority of us do.
Reasons Why Ants Are Better Goal Setters than We Are!
Ants follow proven instruction. When scout ants find food, they spray a pheromone and hightail it back to the nest. The pheromone makes a trail that leads back to the food. Worker Ants at the nest do not argue that there is a better way back to the food they just follow the trail.
A human, though, will see a proven path to success and try to change it. They will think they see shortcuts and take those instead of the proven path.
I read a report recently the success rate with franchises was higher if the owner did not have a high IQ. Why? Because the franchisees who were smart usually veer off the proven path. They change the working formula and in doing so mess up their own success.
If you watch a scout ant, once he finds food he runs back to the nest, sometimes he gets excited and zigzags a little, he might even make a circle. When the other ants follow the trail do they say, “Hey we’re going in a circle? Let’s take this shortcut?” No! They follow the proven path back to the food. The result? Everyone gets the food.
Ants are determined. If you tell, an ant there is food over a hill but there are five trees down blocking the path, does the ant think twice? No, an ant will climb a house 1000 times its size if it has to make its journey.
This makes a person feel bad for putting down a manual because it has too many pages doesn’t it. Just think of the number of people who quit because the path is “too difficult,” too hard to follow. I face that a lot with the people I mentor on business marketing and setup.
“Melvin Feller, that book is 1800 pages long, you mean I have to know all of that?” They ask.
What would an ant say? Would an ant ever say, “You know, now that you mention it, you’re right. I never thought about it that way. It is too hard. We might as well put that big book away and work at McDonalds.”
Ants see defeat as only temporary. Every fall, as most dwellers do, I go to battle with ants coming into our house from the cold. In addition, although I love ant attitude, my archenemy is the ant. So I must exterminate. I have a service that sprays; I also throw out ant stop powder and use borax bait to kill off the colony.
After a week or two, they are all gone. They have been defeated. Nevertheless, not so fast! What happens the next year? They come back in the same numbers!
Is it not strange that they would come back? They lost. Why would an ant set 1 foot, let alone six tiny ant feet in my house? Because they see defeat as only temporary. They know eventually they will win. Truth is I know it too. One day, I will be gone, but generations of ants will still be back — until one day — possibly 2000 years from now, my house will be demolished and the ants will live here freely.
Ants Collaborate better than Wall Street Executives. As I touched on before, when ants search for food, they set up markers along the way, letting other ants know where the food is. If the food happens to be an insect or grub, this trail is a call to action, they work together to conquer the bug or insect and then drag it back to the nest.
Humans have the ability to collaborate as well. However, most do not do it very well. We are all out searching for our version of food, be it happiness, be it money, or health. Yet how many people do we actively collaborate with daily? How many other people do you actively work on your goals with? One? Ten?
An ant does not want to hear you are not collaborating with anyone. He would think you are crazy. He would say you are doing it the hard way.
Napoleon Hill called collaboration the Mastermind formula. It is true. Two brains are better than one, three brains are better than 2. None of us knows it all. Yet, if we sit down together and give perspectives, we can help each other get what we want.
An ant will not waste any time following the path that says “lots of food here!” Of course, he has to trust his comrades. However, that is what collaboration is all about. Learning different perspectives and forming relationships that profit all parties. It cannot be a 1–0 relationship. It has to be a 1 to 1 or 2–2 or 3 to 3 relationship where everyone’s needs are met.
Ants defend what they have and expand it. Has anyone out there had the pleasure of stepping on a fire anthill barefooted? If you have made this mistake, you have seen firsthand how an ant will defend its colony. However, not only do they defend it. They are constantly expanding it. Both above and below ground, they build, build, and build.
If the wind or a boot knocks over their house, they build it right back and continue expanding it.
Yet, when it comes to humans, defending our homes in the form of insurance, paint and weatherproofing can feel like a major inconvenience. In addition, what about expanding your home? Making it better? What an inconvenience! Who wants to build a deck or add on a sunroom? That is too much work!
Ants never let personalities get in the way. Now granted, Bob the ant may be a raging jerk at home, or perhaps he plays the ant equivalent to video games once the kids are in bed. But when Bob gets to work in the morning he’s all business.
You never see Bob the ant wasting precious time gossiping about Mary the ant or the queen who passed you over for the Formica sanguine promotion. No, ants may well have their own personalities, but they leave that at home.
One ant does not purposefully stab another in the back just to get ahead. Another ant does not steal food from the rest to hoard it all to himself.
Ants adopt at a primal level the old saying “There’s a time for work and a time for play.” They never get the two confused. When they are at work, they work; non-stop until it’s time for rest, then they rest.
Ants never spend their whole paycheck. Ants are acutely aware that a storm is coming; winter is on the horizon or the possibility of a lawn mower in the area. That is not to be negative, in every life a little rain must fall. To think you will never have a setback is dumb. We all have setbacks.
Ants, know they will have setbacks too. So what do they do? They prepare for them. They do not simply find enough food for one week and then eat it all until the next week. No, they eat some and save some. Yet, something like 30% of the American population lives paycheck to paycheck!
Instead of saving a bit out of each check, people spend it all. You can almost hear them say, “If something bad happens, I’ll deal with it then.” Again, not to be negative, but setbacks will happen. Accidents happen, winters come, floods take out houses, businesses downsize. You do not have to dwell upon these facts, but you need to prepare yourself for them in case they do happen. If they do not occur, then hey! You have got extra in your savings account.
Ants would never think to blow it all in a week’s time. They scrimp and save for the tougher times.
Ants expect more from themselves than should be possible. Have you ever seen an ant carrying a leaf or a stick 20 times its size? Sometimes you can catch two or three of them carrying a caterpillar and it looks like the caterpillar is floating on air.
Why would an ant ever believe that it is possible to carry so much? Well one reason is ants brains are not so big, but the other is they are born without negative limits.
Humans, as a whole, give in to mental limits all the time. We do not lift 10 times our weight because we either believe we cannot or never made it a focus.
I read in Men’s health last week that some bodybuilders are bench-pressing over 1000 pounds. That is an incredible feat isn’t it? However, one reason these people can do that is they did not limit themselves to 100, 200 or even 500 pounds.
We have examples all around us of people who have severe handicaps, or who come from poor or abusive backgrounds, yet are able to “overcome” and achieve their life dreams.
How is that possible?
One reason is they do not believe the limits in their physical makeup or background and upbringing. They expect more from themselves than should be possible. They know they are better than to set the ceiling so low.
Ants remain focused until they succeed. Have you ever seen an ant who is building its anthill suddenly stop what he is doing and then buy a lottery ticket? No, of course not! Why? Because ants stay focused on what they are doing until they succeed.
When ants are working, they do not take sudden detours. They do not quit halfway through playing World of Warcraft. They pick up one rock, carry it where it needs to go and place it there. He picks up the next rock and does the same, and so on until he finishes his work.
If you can focus like an ant on your progress, brick by brick, stone by stone, you can’t help but be successful.
Ants never give up. The typical human is easily discouraged. For some people not all it takes is one “any” and that’s the end. If he is working on a goal and you say “no” that is usually the
end. He will take that as the final word and stop trying. Isn’t that sad? If you said no to an ant, he would simply find another way. You can step on them, spray poison, burn them with magnifying glasses but still they never give up.
Never give up!
Melvin Feller is known as “The Entrepreneur’s Mentor” because Melvin walks his talk. Melvin Feller has been there and done that and more importantly, Melvin Feller knows how to transfer the skill set for success. This is main reason that he has been the sought after coach to hundreds of small business owners, entrepreneurs, Realtors, real estate investors and service professional internationally. Melvin Feller’s main talent is to show you how the step by step process to build and enjoy a successful 6-figure plus business while having a balanced life. Melvin Feller maintains offices in Texas and Oklahoma.
Melvin Feller MA is in Texas and in Oklahoma. Melvin Feller founded Melvin Feller Business Group in the 1970s to help individuals and organizations achieve their specific Victory. Victory as defined by the individual or organization are achieving strategic objectives, exceeding goals, getting results or desired outcomes. He has extensive experience assisting businesses achieve top and bottom line results. He has broad practical experience creating WINNERS in many organizations and industries. He has hands-on experience in executive leadership, operations, logistics, sales, program management, organizational development, training, and customer service. He has coached teams to achieve results in strategic planning, business development, organizational design, sales, and customer response and business process improvement. He has prepared and presented many workshops nationally and internationally.
