Whatcha talkin' bout Aesop - Utmost Performance

Whatcha talkin’ bout Aesop

January 2nd, 2017 Posted by Mindset Resources 0 thoughts on “Whatcha talkin’ bout Aesop”

The story of the Tortoise and the Hare. Most of us know it. If not, take a minute to watch the video (https://youtu.be/MeZe2qPLPh0). The topic of this post is to see what it is that Aesop, the man who came up with the fable, was trying to communicate to the person who heard or watched the fable. I then want to draw our attention to what most of us take to believe the idea behind the fable is.

The hare in the story contains talent in the form of speed. The tortoise does not. If we took this simple observation, we can conclude that the race between the two would end in victory for the hare. Talent wins. This is pretty obvious.

However that is not how the fable goes. The tortoise actually wins the race. How did he do it? The tortoise was persistent and kept plugging along. The hare stopped to take a nap and the tortoise went by him and on to victory.

I believe that Aesop wanted to illustrate two things here. First is that those that possess “talent” (read my previous blog post for my viewpoint on talent here: ) need to be especially cautious of ceasing to put in the hard work that enables them to showcase their talent. The hare did not guard himself against this, thinking that he could take a nap and still beat the tortoise to the finish line.

The second point Aesop was looking to make is that hard work and persistence can take one far. Slow progress is still progress, and the finish line will eventually come into sight and you will cross it. The tortoise paid no mind to the hare. He simply did his thing and decided he would get to the finish line when he got there. Keeping our sights fixed on the journey is what is most important.

NOW, what have many of us (myself included) taken away from the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare? The hare made a silly mistake and that is why the tortoise won. We do not value the hard work and determination showed but rather are quick to point that without the nap, the hare wins easily. In this fable we value the hare, not the tortoise. Speed is sexy and we are drawn to that. As carol Dweck states in her book Mindset (which I HIGHLY recommend), we would all rather be the hare.

So this fable shines a light on a fallacy in most of our mindsets. We will take talent over persistence. We would rather have the easy way out. I want to arrive at my destination quickly and not have to go through the painstaking process of simply allowing development and learning to happen. The problem is this is not how anybody gets good at anything. You will not find an example of a successful individual that had what they desired in the snap of their fingers. It took hard work. It took time. It took patience.

Are you willing to adopt the mindset of the tortoise? Can you trust that if you do the best that you are capable each day that eventually you will have that which you desire. Lastly, I will state that I believe a crucial element of adopting the mindset of the tortoise is that you do your best and not look around at what others have or are doing. Imagine if the tortoise stood on the start line pouting about the fact that he was racing a far faster individual in the hare. He would never have started moving.

I know what some of you might be thinking, but in the end the tortoise won, and is that not what the fable revolved around, a race? The short answer is yes…but. The result of the tortoise winning the race was simply a by product of his continuing along the journey. Putting one foot in front of the other, until he got there. That’s the moral of the story.