Things I learnt from “Who Moved My Cheese”

I am not a sort of person who reads motivational books. It’s not like that I despise them, but then they never attracted me that much. Just like that Management tips and tricks from Chanakya and other books like this never got my attention. But then just like an epidemic, books also catch up soon on you. A friend of mine (read Aditya Nath Jha) started using excerpts of the book in a daily conversation and started to take follow up with me whether I have read these 32 pages that may change my thinking. And boy, it has!

Who moved my cheese? A story about how to accept change in your life, either professional or personal, how to use that change in your favour. How not to lose hope when change doesn’t seem good enough for you. 32 pages will make such an influence on you that you will thank me later for reading this. Some things that I learned from this book are:

Lessons I learnt from Who moved my Cheese:

1. Understand your cheese.

So cheese here means what you are seeking in your life? Professional or personal success? Peace? Prosperity? Only materialism. Different people and different kind of cheese. So first, understand what kind of cheese you want. A clear picture in your mind about your goals will help you identify the ways to achieve it better. And no one will understand your need of cheese better than you. In the book, all four characters, Hem, and Haw, Sniff and Scurry knew that kind of cheese they want. Hem and Haw wanted cheese with a big “C”, but Sniff and Scurry wanted simple and hard to nibble cheese.

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2. Comfort means no more cheese

Comfort has killed many dreams. We see people being stuck in the monotonous jobs, not trying new things and never experimenting. One life, countless tears, too much stress and then ultimately a comfortable death. That is what happens when you get too comfortable in one place. Success will always be waiting for you out of your comfort zone. It won’t come to you if you will sit on your ass and wait for it. Hem and Haw, once their cheese was finished, sat around every single day, waiting for their finished cheese to magically appear. But nothing happened, and they were disappointed every single day.

3. Try and adapt towards other variety of cheese;

Experimentation never killed anyone till now. So why shy from it?  Also, circumstances will never be the same there will be ups and downs. So learn to adapt yourself towards these ups and downs. Always have a backup plan towards downward situations in life and never lose your stance. Adaptation is what has helped many species to evolve on this world. Sniff and Scurry adapted towards their changing situation from time to time, so that they can make the most of it.

4. Fear kills the kind of cheese you want to eat.

Fear of failing will always be there, but think, what will you do if you have no fear? When you wake up every morning, sit for 5 minutes and plan out your day keep this one line in mind. You will see a change n you and way you handle your work. You will achieve more and days won’t be long and boring. Hem never wanted to move from the place where he lost his cheese. Even when Haw wanted  him to think positively, he never considered the thought of finding something new and better.

5. Eat- Sleep- Cheese- Repeat

As simple as it is to read, cheese should be your goal. When you wake up in the morning, the first thought should be about cheese, when you sleep at night, cheese should be in your dreams. It helps you become more passionate about your cheese. Haw made sure to keep his pace when he was running around the maze trying to find new cheese. He kept himself motivated by leaving messages for Hem on cheese walls.

See more: Importance of Consistency

6. Keep your cheese simple

Simple and non-superficial. That is how your cheese goals should be. Know your strengths, limits and weaknesses when you set your cheese goals. There is a very thin line between being passionate and then being crazy. You don’t have to cross over the line. Sniff and scurry had simple mice brains with simple but achievable goals. They both were more aware of the need to keep things simple, be flexible, and move more quickly towards new opportunities.

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7. Cheesy opportunities never die

Hard work and due diligence keep on creating more opportunities for people. We may also have come across many growth hackers in business and startups these days who can identify such opportunities. Just like that keep identifying such opportunities in your professional life. Sniff ans Scurry, when they couldn’t find enough cheese, they moved to another location. The more they hustled, the more opportunities came knocking towards them.

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Shreya Verma

Shreya Verma is a Bibliophile, food lover and a wild child! Currently working as an HR professional and trying to make a name in this big world!