UEG 2005

TEXTO 3

A DECISION FOR 2010

On which side of the counter will you be in June 2010? In an aquarium or in the ocean? People are scared by this proposition. They think it’s either too late, or too early, to make such a serious decision.

The fact is that people have become unaccustomed to dreaming. They have lost the courage to place themselves in the future and, from there, look at the present. They still don’t understand the need to manage the present, with an eye on the future. Worse yet: their thinking is always based on a projection from the past. Most spend about 90% of the time remembering from where they came, 9% justifying where they are, and only 1% thinking about where they want to be.

Well, let’s turn this pyramid upside down. It’s not important where you came from, or where you are, but where you want to be! Those who keep their eyes on the past are unable to move toward the ocean that awaits them, where they can swim with big strokes. They get comfortable, surround themselves with envious and pessimistic people, quash any initiative taken by one of their children, a student, or a subordinate to find the way to the ocean. They create rituals and rules in the aquarium, as though it were the size of the world. It’s not!

What is this aquarium that holds most people prisoner? It may be a company, a position, or a manipulative boss. It could be a love relationship, a poorly drawn contract, or a credit card that holds us hostage to our debts. It could also be an unwanted event, an illness, or a catastrophe.

But the aquarium is mainly what we carry inside ourselves: a mental model filled with values, beliefs, prejudices, standards and truths that end up blocking our way to the sea. The aquarium is inside us. We are our biggest competitor.

The first step to freedom is to think about June 2010 and make this inner choice: aquarium or ocean? That’s the question.

SOUZA, César. Ícaro Brasil, RMC Editora, n. 238, jun. 2004, p. 20.

 

Assinale a alternativa INCORRETA.

Escolha uma das alternativas.