The Unlocked Leader

CHAPTER 4How We Can Change Our Mindset: The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Still sitting by the fire in the old couple's hut, the child notices a painting hanging on the wall. The painting is of a beautiful beach at sunset.

“Where is that beach?” the child asks the old woman.

The old woman smiles. “Don't you recognize it?”

The child stares at the painting more closely and shakes his head.

“This is the beach by your village,” the old woman says.

“This can't be,” the child says. “On my beach, the sun never sinks into the water.”

“Have you ever gone to your beach at sunset?” asks the old woman.

The child hasn't. But still, the beach on the painting doesn't look familiar. “There is no cliff on my beach,” the child points out.

“Have you ever walked to the other side of your beach and looked from there?”

The child hasn't. But still, the beach on the drawing looks nothing like his. “My beach is much smaller,” the child explains.

“Perhaps you've always gone at high tide,” the old woman says.

Still, the child doesn't know the beach on the wall. “What about these waves?” the child asks, pointing at the painting. “On my beach, the ocean is flat.”

“What happens when the wind blows?”

The child doesn't know. He stays home when the wind is strong.

“This is the same beach,” says the old woman. “I often swam there when I was young. I used to walk to the far end, and from there, I could see the cliff. My best swimming was at sunset. The wind was up by then.”

The child is dumbfounded. How can the ...