Do you run with the storm or through it?

Self-discipline strategist and Colorado native Rory Vaden most likely knows more than you do about buffalo and cows. And he thinks you should take a lesson from one of them.

The reason is that, as Vaden appreciates coming from an area near both the Rocky Mountains and the plains of Kansas, cows are not very fast. So when they try to outrun storms, the storm moves with them, maximizing their suffering and frustration.

Deal, don’t delay

Obviously, you don’t want to be a cow in this situation. In his 2013 Annual Meeting presentation “Take the stairs,” Vaden described how people spend a lot of time attempting to, like the cows, avoid challenges instead of confronting them. Whether it is procrastinating difficult conversations or paying bills when money is tight, it often seems easier to avoid something than deal with it.

Successful people, Vaden said, are more like buffalo.

“Buffalo wait for the storm to cross right over the crest of the peak of the mountain, and as the storm rolls over the ridge, buffalo turn and charge directly into the storm,” he said. “They run at the storm, and by doing that they run straight through it, minimizing the amount of pain and time and frustration they experience from that storm.”

Think about a challenge facing you today. Will you deal with it like a cow or a buffalo?

Read more in Vaden’s 2013 Annual Meeting presentation ‘Take the stairs’

Written by Matt Pais, MDRT Content Specialist