Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

How often have you been told to make a plan for your life? That “common sense” advice alone is enough to show that most people don't understand how life operates because you can't predict the future, so you can't plan it; you can only have a goal and do the first thing that seems likely to achieve that goal; it's all a mad scramble after that. An apt metaphor, is trying to cross a river on the backs of alligators.

There's always a river between you and where you're trying to get to, and the river is filled with alligators, a lot of them, and they're swimming all around: your strategy is to jump onto the back of the closest one that looks like it might be going the right way. The thing about alligators is that they're hard to control and will often start going the wrong way, plus, they'll eat you if you stay on too long; better to change to another alligator whenever that seems to be about to happen. It's a wide river, and over your career you'll be jumping onto a lot of alligators. Chances are you'll never get to where you wished you were going but you'll end up somewhere? A lot of people don't like alligators; even if they're unhappy with where they ended up, they won't change, but if you have the gumption, go down to the river and catch a ride.