The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Program to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence, and Happiness

by Steve Peters

Not knowing the difference between chicks and goslings Some stress needs discovering! Picture this: A hen was placed in a pen along with her chicks and then a fox was released. The fox circled the pen to try and grab the chicks. The mother hen knew instinctively what to do and spread her wings and faced the fox. With her wings spread, the chicks ran beneath them and were protected. The hen then continued to threaten the fox by lowering her head and warning him with a pointed beak. The fox couldn’t get the chicks and the hen stood her ground. All was well and the fox was removed. Later that day some goslings were added to the pen. Being a mother hen, the hen immediately took responsibility for their protection and mothered them. The fox was released again. This time as he circled the pen, the goslings also tried to get underneath the outspread wings of the mother hen. However, there were too many chicks and goslings to get underneath and so many ran around blindly. The hen tried to chase after them to get them all under her wings but of course couldn’t manage this. At this point, realizing that it was hopeless, she left both the chicks and goslings and flew to try and get out of the pen, leaving all of the young birds vulnerable to attack. There is a lesson to learn from this. When it comes to dealing with problems and responsibilities in life, it is very important to make a distinction between problems that are your responsibility (chicks) and problems that are the respons...