Be a gecko not a crab! Weird business lesson

Postcards from Rethink Central

Fancy chatting live? Scroll down for details (or to read the transcript)

Got a burning business question? Come to a live call

Next live call is October 10, 2023 - Noon Eastern / 6pm UK.
Come along to ask your questions about launches, strategies for marketing, Masterminds or whatever you're stuck on in your business.

Add your email below and I'll send you the zoom info for the calls. See you there!

Or come say hello on Instagram here.  I microblog daily. 

Prefer to read? Here’s the transcript:

My name is Liz Scully and I’m a nomad.

Which means that I spend a lot of time working from different countries. Plus, I grew up in the tropics so I’m used to seeing what isn’t standard in the Western world.

A while back, I was walking down a beach in Costa Rica

which, let’s face it, is one of the most delightfully pretentious sounding start to a blog, except I was there for work and it was absolutely as lovely as that sounds.

And beaten into the sand by the waves where there were lots of little crab nests. The waves would go out and then the crabs would come out and you could see a little dug-out piece of sand from each crab hole.

The crabs had obviously a distinct area that was their territory.

And as I walked down the beach, I would pass crabs sort of sunning themselves. They would dash back to their whole as soon as they got frightened by my footsteps. But then they would creep out and rush forwards.

But they never got past a certain point. As soon as they got scared, they rushed back to where they were. And even if I stood very still they never went past that particular point.

They never expanded their territory.

They never grew more brave.

So, I stood there for ages. I was fascinated by these things. Where I grew up there were no crabs, even though I grew up on the seaside. The crab situation in the UK and, even in Nigeria, is extremely limited. But I stood there fascinated by this.

It looked a lot like panicking. They came out, they conquered the sand near them, and then as soon as there was trouble they dashed back to where they came from. They scuttled in fact like a crab. And it was… very anxious, the way they moved.

They went from kind of big bold brave moves to this ‘Oh!’ and straight back home.

And when we’re making big change in our lives, that’s what often many of us do. We start strong. And then we just sort of fizzle out and go back to our original plan because it’s safer.

But safe doesn’t mean it’s the right thing.

In contrast to the crab, what a gecko does when it panics is it freezes.

In Sri Lanka where I used to live – I once opened the door and there were two geckos in the throes of passion, which is, obviously, quite a vulnerable position for any creature. And instead of running away, the two geckos totally froze as though, if they were still we wouldn’t see them.

They froze and as soon as the door shut they scuttled away to their lives.

And that’s actually a much better reaction: when in doubt, pause.

That’s really the way to get the best results.

If you dash back to only the safety of everything you know – sure if you’re a crab about to be beaten by a wave, that’s helpful. But if you’re trying to deal with something new in your business, just taking a moment, a breath, see what happens, give yourself that moment for decision and then make your choice – is much more helpful.

So, the point of this particular blog is when faced with doubt I would love for you to act like a gecko and not a crab.

Next live call is October 10, 2023 - Noon Eastern / 6pm UK.
Come along to ask your questions about launches, strategies for marketing, Masterminds or whatever you're stuck on in your business.

Add your email below and I'll send you the zoom info for the calls. See you there!

Or come say hello on Instagram here.  I microblog daily.