The Frog and the Scorpian - www.thoughtoftheweek.co.uk



Recommended Audio CD's A special deal for readers "THE ACHIEVERS EDGE" Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill Good to Great - Jim Collins Discover Your Strengths - M Buckingham 7 Habits of Highly Effective- Stephen Covey Rich Dads Secrets - Robert Kiyosaki Maverick Mindset - John Elliot Vocal Power - Roger Love Quantum Memory - Dominic O'Brien Getting Things Done - David Allen A Short History of Nearly Everything- B Bryson NLP - A practical guide to getting the results you want Joseph O'Connor			The Frog and the Scorpion *Reading Time 3 minutes & 28 seconds* For a Podcast of this thought please click here Or iPod & iTunes - Users Click Here This is a great story which is often miss-attributed to Aesop's fables. It was used by Orson Wells and variations have been in films ranging from the Crying Game to the Sopranos to Star Trek. But with no more introduction here's it is. The scorpion set out on an adventure but before to long he came across a river. The river was wide and swift, and he could see no way to cross. When he saw a frog sitting in the rushes on the other side of the river. So he decided to ask the frog for help to get across the stream. *"Hello Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"* *The frog replied " How do I know that if I try and help you, you wont try to kill me?"* *"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"* *"Now this seemed to make sense to the frog."* So the frog agreed. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back and the frog slid into the river. However halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs. *"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"* *The scorpion shrugged, "I could not help myself. It's in my nature."* Then they both sank into the muddy waters and drowned. What a great story and loads of messages. My mind wondered how often the relationships we have with partners, family and colleagues and are like this. Like the frog we expect others to change, to remove the flaws we see within them. We give them our considered common sense feedback, maybe they begin to think they want to change or perhaps they just tell us they do. But change is hard because the way we think and behave, the talents and perceived flaws we have are often hardwired into to us (remember "What's hardwired into your brain"). Maybe with some help if YOU really want to change yourself it might be possible (Check out NLP for help with this). But if you're relying on anyone else to change so you can be happy or deliver the result you want. Then expected to get stung by the scorpions tail. Till next week enjoy your relationships, with people just the way they are. Thanks for listening David Gardner

Recommended Books Good to Great - Jim Collins 7 Habits - Stephen Covey The Automatic Millionaire -David Bach Discover you Strengths - M Buckingham Richard Branson's Auto biography Brilliant Memory - Dominic O'Brien Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill Freakonomics - Stephen Levitt Getting Things Done - David Allen The Machine That Changed the World Watching the English - Kate Fox A Short History of Nearly Everything- B Bryson


The Last 10 Weeks Power How to lead your kids or colleagues The future is here The Key Skill in Life - Rapport Do you want less stress and more time Why we're late! Throw out your rule book Acres of Diamonds You only have 30s to make a first impression What's hardwired into your brain The Pelican's followed Buffets advice I use Amazon for books There are loads of great audio programs at Nightingale Conant's ,web site here, About Me / Contact Me david@thoughtoftheweek.co.uk