Be The Cobra

Preethaji, the world-renowned Philosopher Teacher, told me the story of the cobra. Every few months the cobra must withdraw and go into seclusion. During this time, it gets very uncomfortable in its skin, and its vision blurs. It then sheds its skin, regains its vision, and returns more powerful - with more clarity of sight. To me, this is a wonderful metaphor for today's progressive leaders. They take time to withdraw from the hustle and get uncomfortable with where they are in order to design what's ahead. During that seclusion, their vision blurs where they are not constrained by what they can see or know but instead think about possibilities, a new vision, a new future.  Bill Gates is said to withdraw to a cabin in the woods with no internet connection to sit for weeks and read articles that he has accumulated. One would think he is applying the cobra philosophy by being uncomfortable with where he is, having new information to ponder, thus blurring his vision to return with a stronger view of the future and plans to execute. Bring the cobra to your planning procedure.