There is an old Cherokee fable about two wolves…
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil—he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
We all have conflict inside us… positive vs. negative, right vs. wrong. How we handle these is a big part of our attitude towards life. This goes in everything you do—how you spend time at work, at home, with your family, with your hobbies. What is your attitude towards these things? Why are you doing them?
There are days I wonder why I am doing what I do, I then think of my J2 team, our partners, our consultants… I do it for them. Sanjay and I keep growing J2 for you guys. That is the wolf I choose to feed. How about you?
Remember: The wolf that wins is the one that YOU choose to feed.
Have a great weekend.
—Vijay
About Friday Food for Thought (FFfT)
I frequently attend conferences and retreats on entrepreneurship and leadership and while I am away, the J2 team picks up the slack, allowing me to learn to be better at what I do. I wanted to share what I was learning with my team, so I created the weekly FFfT emails in November of 2015 and have been writing them ever since.
Before long, the J2 staff began sharing the FFfT emails with their friends and family and now other leaders have asked to be included, which led to the creation of this newsletter. I hope you enjoy!