The Ants’ Four-Part Philosophy
Jul 13th, 2008 by Brian Sylvan
Jim Rohn determined that ants live by a four-part philosophy. This philosophy can be a powerful tool in your life.
1. Ants never quit.
Ants don’t worry about the details. They just do. Their job is to gather food. That’s all they do, and they’re very good at it. They don’t quit.
What about when you disrupt their ant line? The ants will search and search until they relocate the scent.
Don’t give up. The scent’s around here somewhere. You were on the right path. If you weren’t, you can find it. Look around. And remember, never, ever give up.
2. During the summer, ants think winter.
Why do they think winter? Because during the winter, they won’t be able to gather food. The summer’s all the time they have. Sometimes we spend too much time enjoying the summer that we don’t prepare for the inevitable winter. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t enjoy the summer. You should. But always remember, winter is coming.
The ants think more on the lines of “gather, gather, gather for tomorrow we die.” They know the winter is coming. They prepare while everything is going well, while the weather is beautiful. We winter comes it is too late.
3. Ants are thinking summer all winter.
Ants are thinking, “This too shall pass.” They know that eventually the summer will come again. Winter never lasts forever.
The same is true in our lives. Our lows will pass. We’ll feel the warm on our faces again. The plenty will come again. Even the Ice Age eventually ended.
4. During the summer, ants gather all they can. Jim Rohn has named this the all-they-possibly-can philosophy. Makes sense.
The seasons follow predictable patterns. Fall follows summer. Winter follows Fall. Spring falls Winter. Summer follows Spring. We know what’s coming next. It’s never a surprise.
But we never know the exact day that a particular season will start on. We never know when the snow will start falling. The time to prepare is now.
The Ant Philosophy summarized:
1. Don’t ever, ever quit.
2. Winter is coming. Prepare during the summer.
3. Summer is coming. Look forward to it.
4. Gather all-you-possibly-can.