What can we learn from monkeys and bananas about achieving our goals?

August 27, 2019

 Would you say you are doing everything it takes to not only achieve your goals but to make achieving your goals as easy and enjoyable as possible?


In NLP we say that the person that is the most successful in an environment is not the fittest but rather the the most adaptable, the person that is most flexible. 


And we can see this in the following story about monkeys.


Did you know that there are still places in the world where people hunt monkeys. They lay traps for them and a sink a cage into the ground with a banana in it.


The bars of the cage are just wide enough to reach the banana but when the monkey has hold of the banana, he isn't able to get his hand back out through the bars.

He would have to drop the banana in order to be free.


The trapper comes along and the monkey knows that he must let go of the banana or he will be caught but he doesn't.


He doesn’t see that by holding on to the banana he isn't able to hit his bigger, much more important goal of staying alive.  He wants that banana and he wants it now.


We all have bananas in our lives.


Limiting beliefs. Limiting habits. Stories we tell ourselves about why we can’t do something. Self-sabotaging behaviours. Resistance to learning new ways. Resistance to doing what would help us most.


Strong attachments to why we can't do something. These are the times when someone suggests something to us and we hear ourselves saying or thinking 'yeah but'...


When you think about your goals, what are your bananas?


What are the stories you are telling yourself about why you cannot achieve it?


Can you see how the longer you hold onto your bananas, the longer it will take you to hit your goal? Unless you let go of your bananas, the chances of you hitting your most important goals are so much smaller?


So, are you ready to let go of those bananas?


If the answer is yes, give me a 'hell yeah' below in the comments.   Awareness of what we are doing is often the first step to transformation.


I’d love to hear your thoughts.


Welcome to another quickie with JoJo where I share my favourite top tips and hacks and stories from life and from the world of psychology, NLP to help you thrive in your business and life.  I'm JoJo Ellis, an NLP Trainer and Success and Mindset Coach to Women in Business.

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©2019 by Joanna Ellis Global a Mind Body Confidence Company