The Ant Philosophy
Published April 5, 2010
“The Ant Philosophy”. A man who passed away, but influences me greatly, Jim Rohn, talked about the Ant Philosophy. I will share a few thoughts about it now. Much of this is paraphrased from his own words – with my own thoughts intermixed.
An ancient story that you should study is the “Ant Philosophy” – especially lazy people.
Lazy people? When I first heard about this, I had to listen to it again several times. After all, I’ve been the king of lazy before in my life. I wonder what he will say next? And I knew from past experiences that ants were annoying little critters, crawling on me when I was outside playing as a youngster.
Ants – they never quit! Try and stop them, and they will look for another way. They will climb up, clumb under, climb around. They never quit looking for a way. If they are headed somewhere, they will get there. Never quit looking for where you are supposed to go.
This is sheer relentlessness. I’ve seen ants be relentless. We get ants at the bottom of the stairs to the porch on our house. There is a crack in the stairs where the ants come out. When we try and flush them out with water, they do all they can to get out of the water and get away. It seems every time we flush them with water, they get away and come back. They are persistent little buggers. This tells me that I too should be a persistent little bugger.
Ants – they think winter all summer long. This is an important philosophy. Don’t think nice when it is nice. Things are easy in the summer time. It’s warm. Resources are readily available. But the ant is thinking about gathering and working during this time. You can’t think sand and sun in the summer. In the summer, ants are thinking storm and preparing.
This is always looking ahead and never being content or satisfied. Imagine your website or a project you are working on starting to have some success. The easy thing to do would be to sit back and relax. Never be content – always strive for more. Always seek to do the maximum because a winter can hit at any time.
Ants – they think summer all winter long. They say, “This won’t last long, we will soon be out of here.” When the FIRST warm day comes, the ants are OUT! FIRST warm day and… the ants are OUT! They can’t wait to get out. They can’t wait to get at it. They will dive back in if it gets cold. But they are right back out when it gets warm.
This is preparing while things are going slow. Perhaps your earnings are low and you are living frugally. This is the best time to create an action plan with new and innovative ideas. Eventually there will be opportunities. Winter does not last forever. The summer will come!
Average people look forward to getting off. Successful people look forward to getting on with it. The doing and activity is the key here.
I used to be the person who looked forward to getting off. And there is nothing wrong with taking a break. But if your primary philosophy is getting to weekends and taking vacations, then you can’t really expect to make headway in the areas in your life you are unsatisfied with.
How much will an ant gather in the summer to prepare for the winter? As much as it possibly can! How much should you do in your life? As much as you possibly can! We’re all governed by our thinking, our evaluation, what we’ve decided and how we feel. How many books should you read? As many as you possibly can. How many websites should you expose yourself to? As many as you can!
- Never quit
- Think Winter during the Summer
- Think Summer during the Winter
- Do all you possibly can
The ant philosophy is one of persistence and determination. There is no event that will stop the ant. It will keep going until it dies. My friends: Have you had to deal with ants before? Do you believe the ant philosophy? What season are you in – winter, summer? Are you harvesting and preparing?
image by grytr
Jeremy Reply:
April 7th, 2010 at 7:59 AM
Hi Evelyn – you make a good point about never being satisfied. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I think we definitely need to give ourselves credit for the things we do and take some pride in our work. Thanks for sharing that.
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