Lobsters Among Us
I love to eat lobster. I like to have a bucket of butter, some lemon wedges, some corn and potatoes, and a shower curtain to wrap myself in to catch the flying juice and shell.
I recently read that the king of Crustaceans isn’t the smartest thing in the sea or the land. This knowledge has not affected my desire to eat lobster, mind you. It just makes the lobster more fascinating. You see, it has always amazed me how the animal world reflects the human world. I learned that if a lobster is left high and dry among rocks, it does not have enough instinct and energy to work its way back to the sea, even though it may be only a few feet away. It waits for the sea to come to it and eventually will die while waiting.
In comparison, I’ve observed many “Human lobsters” who are always stuck on the rocks. They spend their days waiting for good fortune to come to them. They hope and pray for success, but aren’t willing to leave the couch and work for it if their lives depend on it.
My mentor, the legendary Brian Tracy, would tell me that these people are at their favorite vacation spot, Someday Isle. Someday I’ll go for it, but not now. Their limited success vocabulary is heavy with words like “I hope,” “I’d like,” “I’ll think about it,” “If only,” “My luck will change,” and “Someday I’ll win the lottery.” Instead of getting off their backsides and doing something about their situation, they would turn away from any opportunities or challenges they face and put them off for another day.
The winners in today’s world are the ones who identify opportunities and then pursue them. They understand that their success, or lack thereof, is totally and entirely up to them. They can choose to face life’s storms by being satisfied, complacent, and stupid, with lives filled with excuses and blame. They can also choose to face the storm with an eye for possibility and potential and ignore the talk of the human lobsters around them.
I had to laugh the other day when I came across a quote from Philosopher Marcus Aurelius of ancient Rome. He must have known some Roman Lobsters when he said, “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
It’s just too easy to be a human lobster today. Life is a lobster trap overflowing with paranoia, fear, anxiety, and risk, but we can control it all. Fear and risk are an essential part of life if kept in perspective. The lobster mentality can be a killer if you’re a business owner, executive, or entrepreneur. When business gets challenging, when significant issues arise like Covid or tariffs, will you strand yourself on the shore and wait, and hope for a tide to come in and save you, or will you look for opportunity, be creative, and save yourself? Unfortunately, it’s easy to be left high and dry while waiting to see what happens, when you can get to work and figure out alternative ways of doing business. Leave the wait-and-see attitude to your competition, while you’re proactive, stealing their customers and getting the butter ready.
The choice is simple. While others are worrying and sitting on the rocks, you can boil water, set the table, invite friends, and start the feast. Frankly, I would much rather eat lobster than be the lobster. What about you?