Top 5 Lessons To Learn From “Do You Have Enough Sharks In Your Tank?”
October 3, 2011
See “Do You Have Enough Sharks In Your Tank?”
There is a real depth of lessons available to us in the story of “Do you have enough sharks in your tank“, and here’s what I consider to be the top five.
1. Having another shark thrown in our tanks is an invitation to “Say ‘YES!’ Passionately to Life!”.
Maybe it’s simply a form of human insanity to want fewer sharks in our tanks. Throwing ourselves wholeheartedly at the next shark coming at us could well turn out to be the most liberating act of our lives!
2. Maybe the areas of our lives where we’re stuck or moving sluggishly means that we don’t have enough sharks in the tank.
Sometimes we struggle with the things we think we “should” do and get stuck or have difficulty building any real momentum. What do you need to do to add a shark to that particular tank? Give it some thought, and if you can’t think of anything then maybe the real solution is simply setting it aside as a worthwhile goal. What are the benefits of accomplishing that goal? What would be the prices you would pay if you decided to let it go? Is there a more worthwhile goal you could create instead that would have a greater impact on the quality of your life? Would that goal come with a big enough shark for you? Try to struggle with those questions until you’re clear you got a “hit”.
3. Put sharks in other people’s tanks.
Think about it.
At first glance that might sound a little aggressive, but the idea isn’t about being aggressive, intimidating or threatening people with how sharp your teeth are. If having a shark in your tank is a beautiful thing, then work with people so that they can benefit from having sharks in their tanks, too. Whether you’re a manager, coach, trainer, or consultant – or a husband, mom, son or sister – what are the people in your life struggling with and working towards? Are some of the goals they talk about mere hopes that they can’t ever seem to actually pull off?
One great example of putting a shark in someone else’s tank was the father who just couldn’t seem to manage to quit smoking no matter how hard he tried. His young daughter came home from school crying one day after learning about the dangers for smokers. She was crying because she was afraid that because he smoked he wasn’t going to live long enough to be at her wedding someday. It struck him like a two by four and he became a non-smoker that same day. Even though it was an ongoing struggle with stopping, his daughter had put a big enough shark in his tank to keep him struggling.
What sharks do you need to put in the tanks of the people you care about so that they can go on to accomplish their dreams? How can you work with them so that they can begin to appreciate their own sharks and begin to put sharks in their own tanks?
4. Strive to remember that we always have a choice about how we think and feel about the different sharks in our tanks.
Let’s face it; there are always going to be certain types of sharks that each of us is particularly prone to resisting and have difficulty appreciating, or times when it feels like there’s just too many of them and not enough of us to go around – especially in today’s world. And you know what? That’s ok. Most of us seem to consistently compare how we’re doing from day to day to our peak performance level, and the only way to be acknowledged or validated by such a comparison is going to be by waiting for the next occasion when we’re operating at our peak performance level again.
It’s a peak experience and can’t really be compared to our daily lives. Giving a hundred percent of ourselves is not only going to look and feel differently from day to day, but sometimes even from moment to moment. It’s so much more valuable to ask ourselves “Did I give a hundred percent?” than it is to ask ourselves “Why didn’t I do better? …or more? …or something different?” And in those moments when you’re choosing to say “NO!” to the sharks in your tank, can you still love, appreciate, and acknowledge yourself and the choices you’re making anyway?
5. The sharks in our tanks are lifes greatest gift.
Let me guess: you think that one is just too much of a stretch?
When I went to the movie theatre to watch one of the “Lord of the Ring” movies that came out I remember sitting in the theatre really enjoying the movie and appreciating how heroic so many of the characters were. I had a sense that they were all actually really lucky to be on such a grand adventure! I was sort of mulling over the nature of being a hero in the back of mind as I watched Frodo and Sam struggle up the side of the mountain, and then I realized that it actually totally sucked to be them!
They were exhausted, starved, overwhelmed, dirty, thirsty, and homesick – to name a few – and would have gladly traded places with just about anybody on the planet for a nickel.
But in facing the sharks in each of their tanks the characters of the good guys were forged into becoming that person that each of them had known in their hearts they could always be but never knew how to bring it to the world – or perhaps had even dared to hope that they ever would.
Whether it was having a bold new sense of daring or confidence in their lives or finally claiming their greatness that was always there – each of them went on to forge a life for themselves that could simply no longer be mediocre. Their days of mediocrity were behind them forever.
We all long for that particular brand of greatness in our own lives. How differently might it feel to live our lives if we could all acknowledge the hero’s journey that each of us is on and that the biggest and baddest sharks in our tanks are really no match for us; and are actually life’s greatest gift to us?
Here’s hoping you swim with the sharks!
Your partner in saying “YES!” to online success,
Tracy Batwinas
http://www.batwinas.com
Tracy Batwinas is the head of The Tracy Batwinas Group, a consulting firm that specializes in offering services to Internet Marketers, Professional Bloggers and Infopreneurs. Their services range from content management and creation to blog and website management and creation, as well as every aspect of the marketing process. Find out more about how their services can benefit your bottom line at http://www.batwinas.com
Harold and Maude
July 1, 2009
“Black comedies don’t come much blacker than this cult favorite from 1972, and they don’t come much funnier, either. It seemed that director Hal Ashby was the perfect choice to mine a mother lode of eccentricity from the original script by Colin Higgins, about the unlikely romance between a death-obsessed 19-year-old named Harold (Bud Cort) and a life-loving 79-year-old widow named Maude (Ruth Gordon). They meet at a funeral, and Maude finds something oddly appealing about Harold, urging him to “reach out” and grab life by the lapels as opposed to dwelling morbidly on mortality. Harold grows fond of the old gal–she’s a lot more fun than the girls his mother desperately matches him up with–and together they make Harold & Maude one of the sweetest and most unconventional love stories ever made. Much of the earlier humor arises from Harold’s outrageous suicide fantasies, played out as a kind of twisted parlor game to mortify his mother, who’s grown immune to her strange son’s antics. Gradually, however, the film’s clever humor shifts to a brighter outlook and finally arrives at a point where Harold is truly happy to be alive. Featuring soundtrack songs by Cat Stevens, this comedy certainly won’t appeal to all tastes (it was a box-office flop when first released), but if you’re on its quirky wavelength, it might just strike you as one of the funniest movies you’ve ever seen.”
Rory O’Shea Was Here
June 30, 2009
The caption for the movie says it all. Rory O’Shea is living proof of the power of living life like you were dying – “like you mean it”.
Michael is a 24-year-old who has cerebral palsy and long-term resident of the Carrigmore Residential Home for the Disabled, run by the formidable Eileen. His life is transformed when the maverick Rory O’Shea moves in. Michael is stunned to discover that fast talking Rory, who can move only his right hand, can understand his almost unintelligible speech. Rory’s dynamic and rebellious nature soon sparks a flame in Michael, introducing him to a whole new world outside of Carrigmore.
Inspirational Online Movie Facing The Giants
May 19, 2009
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEv1FgT2OrI
A Box Full of Kisses
May 13, 2009
The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.”
The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, “Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside? The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, “Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, Daddy.”
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.
Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.
In a very real sense, each one of us, as humans beings, have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses… from our children, family members, friends, and God. There is simply no other possession, anyone could hold, more precious than this.