Wildebeest Syndrome

In Africa Serengeti plains there is an animal called Wildebeest. The wildebeests, also called gnus, are a genus of antelope. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep and other even-toed horned ungulates. Out of all the ungulates, wildebeests are unique.  They never run for very long. That’s not because they’ve just realized something important and want to stop and think about it. And it’s not because they’re tired. It’s because they’re so dumb that they forget why they started running in the first place. 

They see a predator, they realize they’re supposed to run away, and they start moving in the opposite direction. But they lose sight of what inspired them to run, sometimes at the most inopportune moments. Sometimes they stop right next to predator; sometimes they’ll walk right up to one, as though they weren’t really sure whether this is the same animal that frightened them a few minutes ago. They almost seem to be saying, “Hey, Mr. Lion, are you hungry? Care for some lunch?” If there weren’t a whole lot of wildebeest, I think the whole species would get gobbled up in a matter of weeks.

Does this remind you of some of us, who behave like wildebeests? They get a great idea, they commit themselves to a goal, and they run with that goal for a day or may be for only a half a day. Maybe they just walk around, cautiously, for 15 minutes or so. After those 15 minutes of ambling around, they realize they haven’t got to where they said they wanted to get to. Then they say to them, “Oh, this is going to be tough; it isn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be”. And they stop dead in their tracks. 

These people are the patients of wildebeest syndrome; they are the victims of wildebeest thinking. Often their problem isn’t that they’re doing the wrong things to move closer to their goals – they’re not doing anything to move closer to their goals.

Think about instances in your life, do you have any symptoms of wildebeest syndrome? If you do then it’s a bad news, but you are not alone, there are many of us, who have the wildebeest thinking pattern. The good news is you are not wildebeest. So, you can overcome this syndrome, you can actually avoid wildebeest thinking. Just follow the prescription, it might be of help.

You have to set a goal and then stick to it. You don’t want to stop in your tracks and you certainly don’t want to stop when your predators are close by. You have to take stock at the end of each and every day and ask yourself,   “How much closer am I to the major goals I set for myself?” And if the honest answer to that question is that you haven’t made any meaningful movement toward the goals you’ve identified – if you’ve stopped in your tracks – then you have to resolve to do something different the next time you find yourself on the plains of Serengeti, if you wish to avoid being lunch to lions.

Thinking about wildebeest thinking – wildebeests never, ever have a clear sense of the overall direction of their day. They don’t know whether or not they’re moving closer to or further away from a goal, and they certainly don’t seem to be very good at embracing goals that inspire them (or anyone else). Wildebeest don’t build tomorrows. They live in a “permanent yesterday,” a world ruled by unproductive habit, inertia, and routine. The routine may be comforting, but it can also be lethal – but it’s unfortunate that many of us realize it when it is already too late.

These routines only seem comfortable and safe to us. They’re not really comfortable – they just seem less scary, for the moment, than the last thing we remembered to challenge ourselves with. If we thought things through, we’d realize that it was the deadening routines we allow into our lives that are truly scary.

Most of us encounter wildebeest thinking form time to time in our own lives. (I know I do.) The trick is not to let that kind of thinking take over the day. At the close of the day, you have to be able to ask yourself “Was I pursuing positive goals, goals based on my image of the best person I’m capable of being, or was I drifting downward toward negative influences that are likely to stop my progress toward positive goals?”

If, as you look back over your day’s journey, you realize that you made a habit of stopping because you forgot why you started running in the first place, beware! A wildebeest may be taking over your day.

Recognizing that you’re indulging in wildebeest thinking means you’ve got a big part of the job done. Once you recognize that you’ve stalled out, you can start moving away from that lion. The aim is to be able to say, at the end of the day, “You know what? I tried some new things today, getting to my goal is harder than I thought it would be, and it might take me longer to get where I’m going than I thought it would, but I tried something. And I’m going to try something else tomorrow.” That’s the way to get the jump on the predators.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that the predator is necessarily a competitor or a rival. It could be you. For instance if you stop moving toward constructive goals long enough to start thinking about pros and cons, your own ethical principles, and other details, (which have already been worked out, that’s how you could chose the goal), you’re in trouble. That’s the wildebeest standing right next to a lion, saying, “care for some appetizers?”  It’s time to start thinking about new strategies, new methods, new options that will allow you to maintain your own ethical standards and shoot for the goals that get you excited.  

So, the final checklist to avoid “Wildebeest Syndrome” – Set a Goal, work on it on a daily basis, review your progress, asses if progress is not as desired or expected, and evaluate the course and the vehicle for your journey, attempt course correction or change vehicle, change pace, if that’s what your evaluation say, reassure yourself, collect yourself for a brisker walk next day, and move. The keyword to get out of “Wildebeest syndrome” is "keep moving".  चरैवेति चरैवेति !!

Get well soon!!