You know the legend of Robert the Bruce?

When he was on the run from the British, he hid in a cave to see out the winter. And he watch for days as a spider 🕷 kept trying, and failing, because of the wind, to create a web. Every time it failed, it climbed back up and started again.

As a result of this creature, he decided that he would continue his fight against England and eventually triumphed and became King Of Scotland.

A great story – apparently not true and just a legend. But the kernel of truth in the story seems to be proven time and again. We are told – ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again’.

But you see – the story and all the associated motivational expressions about trying – miss out one crucial element.

The Spider In The Car (oh yes – you have one even if you don’t know it yet).

Spiders are able to get in the tiniest of cracks, hence every good house has at least 61.84 spiders (according to riotfest.org). I have never seen a .84 of a spider to my knowledge, but 62 in an average house doesn’t sound terribly appealing.

I am not too bothered about spiders myself, but I draw the line at driving around with one next to my head. And the other day that’s pretty much what happened. However, when I tried to encourage the spider to leave, it hid where I couldn’t get to it.

And I thought to myself – what a shame.

You see the spider was just doing what it does, right? It was in its comfort zone, spinning that web as it always used to, and thinking to itself (if spiders could think) – “That’ll do then”. But it really won’t will it. I mean, if it was making that web under a bush somewhere, or in my garage or even the house, then that would make sense.The bugs would come along, get trapped in the web and Hey Presto, Spider lunch.

But in my car – well, last time I looked there wasn’t a plethora of flies or other winged insects to get trapped and become spider food. Which means at some point staying in that comfort zone is going to result in death.

People Can Be Like Spiders

And the same happens with us, humans. You stay in your comfort zone because it’s what you know and have always known. You do the same things that used to work. But – like the spider – you don’t realise that the landscape has changed. That persistently doing what you have always done, will not get you what you always got, and it certainly won’t get you anything better. It is likely to lead to the death……of your business, or your dreams.

Because actually what the spider should have done – what YOU should do if you find you are making no progress, is YES keep trying – but try something else. Don’t give up, just give up doing what isn’t working.

Sometimes – like the spider – it is impossible to see the bigger picture from right in the thick of making that web. Sometimes what you need is someone else to show you a different perspective. This is where the Live Love Laugh Lounge comes in. Because, as our WHY’s women in there know – you don’t have to figure this out on your own!
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