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The Lily Pad


There were once four frogs sitting on a lily pad. It was beginning to get crowded, and they were running out of food. As conditions worsened, one frog decided to jump. How many frogs are left on the lily pad?

If you said “three,” your math is correct but your behavior psychology is off. There are actually four frogs still left on the lily pad. Although one frog decided to jump, he never actually built up the courage to execute. He was waiting for a fish to give him an accurate depth of the water under him, a goose to let him know what the weather was like on the horizon and a duck to give him an update on the current status of other lily pads in the area. In short, he was waiting for the right conditions and the best plan.

How often are we like that frog? We make a decision to do something or go after an objective, but when the time comes to jump, our knees buckle and our legs get weak. We wait. And then wait some more, coming up with excuses for why “this just isn’t the right time.” Opportunities and life itself pass us by as we sit on the lily pad, just waiting.

This is precisely the value of a measurable, time sensitive plan. As I mentioned yesterday, a good plan isn’t designed to chart your entire course to a perfect pond, but it will help you to get off the lily pad. It gets you to jump.

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