5 LESSONS A PENCIL TEACHES US

*Inspired from the pencil parable (English version)

1. BE TEACHABLE

Before to be usable, a pencil needs to be placed in somebody’s hand.

=> You have to be teachable. If you are not willing to be placed in somebody’s trust, he can’t do anything with you. Therefore, it is necessary to be open-minded and see yourself as an empty glass of water that needs to be filled.

2. OVERCOME OBSTACLES

Sometimes a pencil has to be sharpened to become a better version of itself.

=> Life will bring you some hardships you have to go throughout and they are going to hurt. But guess what ! You will end up being a better worker, a better student or a better entrepreneur because of that. The more stress, the more anxiety you go through in life, the more resilient you will become. You need to be stretched like an elastic. An elastic at the first sight is an useless equipment unless it gets stretched to become useful in order to squeeze something. Therefore, don’t run from hardships, go towards them.

3. USE THE ERASER / LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKE

Every time a pencil makes a mistake, it still has the power or the right to use its eraser.

=> Just like a pencil, you will make mistakes. But you still have the possibility to learn from those mistakes and be willing to restart tomorrow. You still get the power to start over and over after falling. Because a mistake is a life’s mandatory step in a journey to success. JUST USE THE ERASER EVERY TIME IT’S NEEDED.

4. KNOW YOUR REAL VALUE (INSIDE)

It’s not the color, the height, the size, the wood that are important for the pencil BUT what it is inside: The pencil LEAD

=> It’s not what you have outside (appearance, clothing, cars) that is the most important thing but what you have inside: your talent, your core value, your passion, your main goal in life. Don’t try to be somebody else. Find and maximize your strengths and you will never experience a burnout.

5. LEAVE YOUR MARK

The pencil has been created for one and only one purpose: to leave its mark on every surface it can be in contact with.

=> You have been sent in this world to make a difference in people’s life. Leave your mark through your dedication in everything you do, saying to yourself that you will inspire or will touch somebody’s life one day. As Martin Luther King said in case you are a street sweeper “you should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well”. So, LEAVE YOUR MARK.

The questions for you today after reading all the above are:

1. Are you willing to be teachable ?

2. Are you ready to face and to overcome the obstacles that lie on your way toward your main purpose in life?

3. Are you ready to stand up every time you will fall?

4. What are your core strengths, your core values?

5. What is the impact do you intend to have, what is the mark do you aim to leave to your environment?

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