Ninnian took her place on centre stage and took a deep breathe to calm any nerves before she smiled and said “Today I want to talk to you about something that inspires me…..I want to talk about Snails”

Now, I’ve heard a fair few motivational or inspirational speeches in my time but never have I heard anyone say their success was inspired by a snail.

But as this young student, who was competing in the Midlands Speaker of The Year competition,  began to explain it all made sense.

Here is what she shared :

#1 Snails Have Maps.

Although Snails are slow moving creature and don’t have any legs,  they always seem to be moving forwards with purpose somehow knowing exactly where they want to go.

I mean have you ever seen an indecisive snail?

Why it resonated:

During my travels, frequently people who are are unhappy, frustrated or fed up with where they are in terms of their life, career or business.

They are easy to spot.

You might know one or two of these people yourself.

They are slumped in the shoulders as if they have the weight of the world on them. If you ask them “how’s it going?” they probably take a deep breathe and say something like “It’s ok” “It’s not too bad” or “You know…I’m just getting on with things”

When I ask them what they want,  most of the time they spend the next 15 minutes telling me about what they don’t want. In fact I find that very few people actually have a clear idea about where they really want to go in life and are leaving it to chance to get somewhere they are happy.

Now I’m not saying that if you have a clear vision of what you want that you’ll get it 100% of the time but I am saying that your chances are significantly improved. I think it was once said that just writing down your goal improved your chances of achieving it by 50%.

Like the snail, having a clear direction means that you can move forward with greater purpose because you will find that you will make decisions which are more consistent with your chosen direction.

What to do next?

If this is sounds like you or someone you know, spend some time writing down exactly where you want to go professionally or personally in 5 years for example. Keep in at the forefront of your mind and read to yourself every day.

#2 One Simple Step For Man, One Giant Leap for Snail Kind.

Garden snails have a top speed of just 50 yards per hour, which was about 3 strides for Ninnian.

She explained that while snails don’t move very fast, they maintain a very steady pace and despite the slow progress they just kept on going.

Why it resonated:

I’m finding that more and more that if people aren’t getting results fast they just seem to give up. Whether its in their business, health and well being or relationships, unless they can see some immediate results the assumption becomes that what they are trying is not working.

Don’t be fooled. I’m no exception.

Too often I have lost patience with things I have tried in my business and thrown in the towel on an idea only to discover that if I’d have just kept going with a steady pace then things would have turned out ok.

I’ve started fitness plans and given up within in weeks because I felt things weren’t working fast enough. (And kept paying the membership fee!)

The truth is that there is always progress in things we do, it’s just that most cases it takes longer to show results than we are prepared to wait. Today’s always on, super connected world has only conditioned that expectation in people even more.

Tony Robbins said “People overestimate what they can achieve in a year but underestimate what they can achieve in 5 years”

Over the last 24 months I’ve really learnt the art of patience and how to detach myself for the need for instant results. This has meant that I’ve been able to enjoy steady progress in both my business and wellbeing.

What to do next?

If you can see yourself in this situation, try to break your goals into smaller chunks, so you have milestones or check points within your big over all plan. That way you will easily be able to see the small strides making a difference in your journey. Remember you don’t have to get there fast, you just have to get there.

#3 Leave A Trail.

Finally Ninnian explained that as Snails move forward they leave a trail of mucus behind which shows where they have been so they can easily look back and look how far they have come.

Why it resonated:

I often say that we shouldn’t focus too much on the past but that doesn’t mean we should look back at all.

It’s kind of like driving a car, you need to be able to glance back at what’s behind you to ensure it’s safe to change lanes or brake, but if you all you did was look in the rear view at some point you will crash.

There are important lessons to be learned from our past experiences and wisdom to be bought forward to the present to help make a better future.

It’s also important that we remind ourselves of our achievements as we can sometimes have a tendency to focus our minds on what we’ve not done rather than what we have done.

What to do next?

If this feels like you then try keeping a journal and record of your achievements. Look back over your past history and make notes of your accomplishments. It can help to ask friends and family to talk about your achievements too.

If you or someone you know, perhaps someone in your business, team or network needs help with focus, moving forward or gaining clarity I can help.

Get in touch via email using hello@vinayparmar.co.uk or call me on +(0) 333 011 6814