You may have heard of the famous research experiment where a northern pike (a fish) was placed in one-half of a large aquarium, with numerous minnows swimming freely (and visibly) in the other half of the glass divided tank. As the pike became hungrier, it made numerous unsuccessful efforts to eat the minnows, but only succeeded in battering its snout against the glass divider. Slowly the pike learned that reaching the minnows was an impossible task, and simply gave up. When the glass partition was removed, the pike surprisingly didn’t attack the minnows even though they swam freely around the tank. Why? The pike syndrome.
The pike syndrome is all too common in our everyday lives. We make assumptions or feel victimized by our environment, and fail to push past our self-imposed barriers of limitation.
Are you a victim of the pike syndrome? Are you held back by an imaginary glass divider? What do you need to do to start swimming freely? For many of us, it’s simply coming to the realization that we are being held back by ourselves, not some imaginary force beyond our control.
I suspect we all fall victim to the pike syndrome in one way or another. Awareness is the first step.
What have you wanted to do but have held back because you’ve believed it impossible?