Elephants are known for having an ironclad memory.
Could this special gift be their curse?
And do we have more in common with elephants than we’d imagine?
In his book The Adweek Copywriting Handbook, Joseph Sugarman details how circuses raise elephants. And for sure, it’s not pretty!
When a circus acquires a young elephant, they put clamps on the elephant’s feet so it can’t move. The elephant, wanting to be free, uses all of its might to escape the clamps—but to no avail.
Instead of being met with freedom, the elephant is met with excruciating pain.
The elephant, being stubborn (or determined, depending on how you look at it), continues to rail against the clamps.
But no freedom.
Just more pain. Each time sharper than the last.
So, finally, the elephant gives in, resigned to its fate, tired of the agony.
Unshackle Your Mind
But here is where the story puzzles…
As the elephant grows in size and strength, the fate of the elephant remains the same. Even when the elephant develops into a giant that can destroy all restraints.
But why does the elephant remain confined?
Because it’s not the body that’s still chained, it’s the mind.
Unfortunately, the elephant still remembers the pain it felt as a child, the intense anguish associated with resistance.
The elephant’s ironclad memory is now its shackles!
Confront, Then Destroy, Assumed Constraints
Joseph Sugarman, in The Adweek Copywriting Handbook, diagnosed the elephant’s condition as an assumed constraint. At its core, an assumed constraint is when perception becomes reality.
So, the question is this:
Do you have assumed constraints?
As a child, were you told you can’t do something? Did those same people declare you insane for having aspirations that challenged their norm?
Even worse, did you, yourself, place clamps on your capabilities? And are those clamps still present?
If so, you’re likely trapped inside a fixed mindset, a term coined by psychologist Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. With a fixed mindset, you believe, as Dweck states, “your qualities are carved in stone.”
Tap Into Your Mental Power
But here’s the thing:
Like the elephant in that Joseph Sugarman story, you have way more power than you did as a child.
And your power doesn’t just reside in the physical strength you possess. But also, the mental. And as circus elephants can attest, the mind is far more potent than the physical. Why?
Because the mind shapes your reality.
Alia Crum, a Stanford researcher and director of the Stanford Mind and Body Lab, said: “Our minds aren’t passive observers, simply perceiving reality as it is. Our minds actually change reality.”
You can change your reality for the better. And when you genuinely believe this, you have a growth mindset.
According to Carol Dweck, a growth-minded individual believes that “everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”
Remove Constraints to Maximize Your Potential
Have you ever been told that you were stupid for wanting to start a business? That it would never work. That 9 out of 10 businesses fail. That most companies won’t be around after five years.
Have you ever been told that you were foolish for wanting financial freedom? That money is the root of all evil. That you have to lie, cheat, or steal to become rich.
Anytime you heard such statements as a child, clamps were placed on your mind.
Anytime you were ridiculed for dreaming big, clamps were placed on your mind.
But now is the time to unearth your dormant power and shatter all constraints placed on you as a child.
Now is the time to reignite that grit you possessed at birth.
Now is the time to be free!