Photo by Pascal Debrunner on Unsplash

I heard this saying a long while back and immediately ‘got it’, it’s that descriptive!

Pigs are intriguing animals that have been revered or vilified since antiquity. My slant is projected from the less appealing paradigm relating to slothfulness and over-indulgence. I am not being disrespectful to pigs although I do need to qualify the less glamorous side of their coin for the point I make.

Imagine for a moment that you are a virtuous, mis-directed flying squirrel, who happens to land in a trough-filled pigsty. Immediately on gaining your bearing you would detect a possible stench and any given number of amplified sounds that startled pigs produce. “Woha! I’m outta here,” you scream, while rapidly removing yourself from the herd to seek solace elsewhere. And the pigs are left to wonder why.

Which immediately brings to mind that famous Charlie Tremendous Jones saying that you will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.

The squirrel was ‘fortunate’ in that it suddenly found itself in an alien environment and deciding to exit it was seemingly obvious. After all this was an ambitious squirrel that knew what it wanted, right?

Gradual changes are where we need to be most vigilant as they are always competing with our comfort zone. We are seductively drawn by the familiarity and habits that will attempt to keep us where we are. And of course, there is nothing wrong with that providing we frequently ask ourselves the question – am I being the person I want to be right now? And are we truthful with the answer.

Common … you probably haven’t asked yourself the question since the hard lock-down. It’s time!

I am the author of Leading Self and Others (how to make a difference where you are with what you’ve got) and Teaming with ideas (life lessons in teams- from business, sport and parkrun). You can contact me here.