Do you know the fable of the butterfly who didn’t get to struggle?
It goes something like this: A man finds a cocoon and waits for the butterfly to emerge. But once a hole appears, he notices that the butterfly seems to get “stuck.”
Trying to be helpful, the man uses scissors to enlarge the opening. The butterfly crawls out easily.
Here’s the catch, though: its wings never get strong enough for it to fly. Turns out, a butterfly needs to struggle out of a cocoon to gain strength.
It’s not much of a reach to apply this allegory to the human struggle to succeed.
Hero after hero will tell you that it was initial adversity and failures that ultimately made them strong and successful.
In your own professional life, how does this apply? Did you suffer a terrible job at some point? Clash with a boss who was a bad fit?
We’ve all certainly heard our share of war stories, and respect the human need to grow through adversity. It’s something most of us have in common!
