Better Deaf than Hear Discouragement

Giving up is easy. Getting to your goals is hard work.

Posted by TWW Team on December 28, 2021

It was just another noisy Thursday in frog world.

A group of young frogs was chatting by the side of the lake, discussing the latest news. As the frogs looked at the nearby TV tower, the city’s tallest structure, they thought how wonderful it would be to be able to climb to the top and go where no frog had ever been. ‘The wind, the view . . . oh, to be on top of the tower!’ said one of the frogs, and the others croaked in agreement.

They decided that the following Sunday, they would all climb to the top of the tower.

On the appointed day, several frogs gathered to watch the group try and do the impossible. As the frogs lined up for the climb, you could hear the shouts from the crowd. ‘Don’t do it, it’s too dangerous!’ ‘No one’s done it before, what makes you think you can do it?’

Some of the young frogs heeded the warnings and dropped out before the climb started. The rest set off nevertheless, and as some tiny frogs slipped and fell, you could hear the shouts grow louder. ‘You can’t do it!’ ‘The tower is way too high!’

One by one, all the frogs gave up. Except for one little frog. That frog paid no heed to the exhortations and kept climbing higher and higher until finally, it reached the top of the TV tower. The first frog ever to get there!

The frogs clapped and croaked in delight. When the little frog came down, all of them gathered around it.

‘How did you manage it? What’s the secret of your success?’ they asked. The frog just looked on, smiled and did not say a word. It turned out that it was deaf!

And so while the hordes had been shouting, ‘It can’t be done’, it hadn’t heard a word. It thought they were egging it on, and mistook their shouts for words of encouragement!

Can you lead your life like that little frog?

As you go about chasing your goals, your dreams and your ambitions, disregard the people who tell you it can’t be done. Turn a deaf ear to the critics and the naysayers.

Be like the deaf frog. Find your goal, your TV tower. Disregard the sceptics. And go for it. If you can dream it, you can do it!

Source: The Secret of Leadership by Prakash Iyer


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