How Failure Holds us Back

One day, a man was walking through an elephant camp. As he walked, he realised the elephants were held from escaping by a small piece of rope that tied one of their legs to a log. Knowing that they could easily break the rope, the man asked the trainer why they weren’t escaping.

The trainer said that when they were young, the same ropes were used to tie the elephants, and was at that time strong enough to hold them. As they grew up, the elephants were conditioned to believe that it would continue to hold them — that they would never move past their failures. Hence, they never even tried to break free.

What’s Your Rope?

It’s so easy to let past failures be the flimsy rope that holds us back — whether it relates to habits, career, or relationships. Just like those elephants, we grow every day, whether we know it or not. That’s why you should keep testing your strength. You never know when you will be strong enough to break your rope.