Persistence alone does not always guarantee success. It is only when we persist with direction and a purpose in mind do we achieve results. I once read of an experiment conducted by the famous French naturalist and Nobel Prize winner, Jean Henri Fabre (1823-1915). The experiment studied the behaviour of a certain type of caterpillar, termed ‘the processionary caterpillar’ – so named because when one of the caterpillars moves off in a certain direction, the others follow suit and fall in closely behind the caterpillar in front. In the experiment Fabre enticed one of the caterpillars to crawl around the rim of a large flowerpot. He then introduced other caterpillars to follow the leader until there was so many caterpillars along the rim of the flower pot that it was no longer possible to distinguish which caterpillar was at the head and which was at the tail of the procession. The caterpillars, oblivious to their futile effort, continued to crawl around the rim, following the caterpillar in front for several days until eventually, one by one, they fell off the flowerpot through exhaustion and lack of food. From this experiment we can see that activity or persistent effort does not necessarily equate to achievement. Sometimes we need to know when to persist and sometimes we need to know when to let go and change direction.

R. Ian Seymour

R. Ian Seymour, excerpt from Discover Your True Potential

Persistence alone does not always guarantee success. It is only when we persist with direction and a purpose in mind do we achieve results. I once read of an experiment conducted by the famous French naturalist and Nobel Prize winner, Jean Henri Fabre (1823-1915). The experiment studied the behaviour of a certain type of caterpillar, termed ‘the processionary caterpillar’ – so named because when one of the caterpillars moves off in a certain direction, the others follow suit and fall in closely behind the caterpillar in front. In the experiment Fabre enticed one of the caterpillars to crawl around the rim of a large flowerpot. He then introduced other caterpillars to follow the leader until there was so many caterpillars along the rim of the flower pot that it was no longer possible to distinguish which caterpillar was at the head and which was at the tail of the procession. The caterpillars, oblivious to their futile effort, continued to crawl around the rim, following the caterpillar in front for several days until eventually, one by one, they fell off the flowerpot through exhaustion and lack of food. From this experiment we can see that activity or persistent effort does not necessarily equate to achievement. Sometimes we need to know when to persist and sometimes we need to know when to let go and change direction.

R. Ian Seymour

R. Ian Seymour, excerpt from Discover Your True Potential