I Moved My Own Cheese Thank You

A little while back I wrote this piece about dealing with change, based on the book by Spencer Johnson.

Since then, I’ve been thinking about the book, and about running around in someone else maze. Hence the title, “I Moved My Own Cheese..”.

The title is based on a book by Deepak Malhotra, a professor at Harvard University. While he doesn’t say that the original book is wrong, he does talk about going the next step, and escaping the maze that someone else has made.

To me though, the end result of reading both books is the decision to continue to move my own cheese!

Of course, before moving your “cheese”, you need to decide what the cheese is.

In the original book, “cheese” represented security, money, prestige.

To many people, “cheese” represents money, with which they can buy a home, chase after consumer goods, or even care for the poor.

Whatever cheese represents though, you have to get it in the first place.

I guess that most people would relate the maze to their place of work, and for many on a minimum wage, there’s not much cheese left over for chasing dreams once the bills are paid.

Over the years I’ve worked as a nurse, counselor, run my own food and cleaning businesses as well as working in the public transport sector.

All that time there was a creative person inside who was constrained by the need to provide for the family and get them educated, the same issues that everyone else faces.

Along the way though, I kept dreaming about escaping from someone else’s maze – being able to work on my own terms.

Today I write, create videos and work as a business consultant. To some extent, I’m still caught in a maze – like anyone else, I still need to get paid for my efforts.

But long ago, I took those first steps to escaping the maze that others would have me running around in.

I studied: writing, web building, networking and anything else that I thought could help. I got to know people who could help me, often working for nothing just for the experience.

There have been ups, and there have certainly been lots of downs, but something changed on the inside.

I found that in creating a new reality where work and career were concerned, that I’d changed, and become more resilient.

Allan Cockerill is therefore a work in process, and is enjoying the journey. Maybe it’s because I’m older, and care less what others think.

Regardless of the reason, I am enjoying the change!

What does cheese represent to you?

Have you tried to escape the maze yet?