Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal With Change In Your Work and In Your Life
Author: Dr. Spencer Johnson
Themes: Self-Help
Summary Sentence: When the world changes around you it’s silly not to change with it.
Review: This very short book has a powerful way of looking at change around you as something natural that you shouldn’t be afraid of. I personally would have enjoyed the book more if it was less silly but it does emphasize the fact that it’s a little “silly” to not change when everything around you changes.
Other Resources: Amazon | Goodreads | Four Minute Books | The Art of Living
“…living… with the changes occurring all the time at work or in life can be stressful, unless people have a way of looking at change that helps them understand it. Enter the Cheese story.”
It’s simple… “Move with the Cheese!”. Don’t let your “…complex brains and human emotions complicate things.”
Definitions
- Cheese: “…a metaphor for what we want to have in life, whether it is a job, a relationship, money, a big house, freedom, health, recognition, spiritual peace of even an activity like jogging or golf. Each of us has our own idea of what Cheese is, and we pursue it because we believe it makes us happy. If we get it, we often become attached to it. And if we lose it, or it’s taken away, it can be traumatic.”
- Maze: “…where you spend time looking for what you want. It can be the organization you work in, the community you live in, or the relationships you have in your life.”
All The Cheese Lessons
- “Having Cheese Makes You Happy”
- “The More Important Your Cheese Is To You The More You Want To Hold On To It.”
- “If You Do Not Change, You Can Become Extinct.”
- “What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?”
- “Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old.”
- “Movement In A New Direction Helps You Find New Cheese.”
- “When You Stop Being Afraid You Feel Good!”
- “Imagining Yourself Enjoying Your New Cheese Leads You To It.”
- “The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Find New Cheese.”
- “It Is Safer To Search In The Maze, Than Remain In A Cheeseless Situation.”
- “Old Beliefs Do Not Lead You To New Cheese.”
- “When You See That You Can Find And Enjoy Cheese, You Change Course.”
- “Noticing Small Changes Early Helps You Adapt To The Bigger Changes That Are To Come.”
- “Move With The Cheese And Enjoy It.”
The Final Lessons Written On The Wall
Notes
- Developing a routine (or habits) that you get used to can make it hard to adapt to changes around you
- If you worked hard to get something you may feel that you deserve it… but if things change you may need to work hard again. This might seem unfair but it’s the way life is.
- Eventually you need to stop analyzing the changed situation and take action. The longer you analyze the longer you are stuck in the same place and the farther behind you get.
- Sometimes just working harder doesn’t work. You may need to do something differently.
- Some fear is good if it motivates you to take action. Fear is not good if it paralyzes you from doing anything.
- “The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists.”
- You should “…expect change to happen and look for it.”
- Don’t stress about not seeing the changes right away. When you do see it, which you will, then adapt.
- If what you’re doing now isn’t working then doing something different is the right thing to do. Trust the process. It may feel scary because you don’t know if you’re going in the right direction. However, you know that staying in the same place is definitely the wrong thing to do.
- Focus on how much better things will be once you adapt. Stop focusing on how things used to be.