S1:E1 Review of Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson

7:48PM Jul 14, 2022

Speakers:

Keywords:

cheese

maze

haw

life

book

moved

characters

story

scurry

reader

hem

sniff

lessons

mice

eventually

station

desired

corrective action

called

unknown

Today, I will be reviewing the book titled Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson, foreword by Kenneth Blanchard, PhD. The book has sold over 24 million copies worldwide and is written for all ages. This story takes less than an hour to read. However, its unique insights last for a lifetime. Who Moved My Cheese? is a simple parable that reveals profound truths. It is an amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a maze and look for cheese to nourish them and make them happy. 'Cheese' is a metaphor for what you would like to have in life, whether it is a good job, a loving relationship, money, or some sort of possession, health or spiritual peace of mind. And the maze is where you look for what you want, the organization that you work in, or the family or community that you live in. This profound book from best-selling author Dr. Spencer Johnson will show you how to: 1, anticipate change, 2, adapt to change quickly, 3, enjoy change, and 4, be ready to change quickly, again and again and again.

Background

Who Moved My Cheese? is a story that revolves around four characters: Sniff Scurry, Hem and Haw. Sniff and Scurry are mice, and Hem and Haw are Littlepeople, humans who are as small as the mice who tend to overthink and overanalyze things. All four of these characters live in an environment called 'The Maze', full of dark corridors and the unknown. The Maze is a representation of life itself. Often it feels long, confusing and dark. The long corridors within this maze represent fear.

There are many areas in the maze that host locations called quote, cheese stations, which hold large amounts of delicious cheese. The characters want to eat this cheese and have different approaches on how to find it. While the two mice Sniff and Scurry, seemingly know when the cheese is about to run out and act right away to find more cheese in other areas of the maze, Hem and Haw instead pretend that the cheese at their original Cheese Station Cheese Station C would never run out. This was proven to be a mistake, because the cheese at Cheese Station see eventually does run out. And when it does, Hem and Haw are in denial for a long time. They didn't think it was possible. Yet. Here they were, quote cheese less and arguing about it for ages. And while they argued about it. The two mice Sniff and Scurry, were already long gone.

Having exited the original Cheese Station see and scurrying to the next faraway one called Cheese Station N which had even more cheese than the original Cheese Station. Eventually, one of the two little people has to get up, take the reigns and eventually finds the desire cheese haws only regret was not doing it sooner. Unfortunately, the other Littleperson, Hem, chose not to get up and explore the maze. hems fate therefore, is unknown.

At the end of the book, there is a dialogue between a group of friends at different stages in life, who talks about the story of the four characters in the maze and related to their own lives, careers and businesses and what they should be doing in order to find fulfillment. Giving up is easy, but if you really want something you will keep on going past the trials and achieve the desired objectives.

Jacob's thoughts and key takeaways: Who Moved My Cheese? is easy, enjoyable and enlightening to read. It is straightforward and tells the story while making the reader laugh and chuckle at certain points. I think for those of us who went through or are currently going through big challenges in our lives, the book does an excellent job of reminding us how to shift and reframe our mindsets and approaches to roll with the punches and get ourselves back on track. We often can be our own worst enemies stubborn prideful, frustrated, and coming up with so called reasons or excuses about why we can't or shouldn't do something. And I've been there myself. However, this is a cycle that does not help anybody, and that you must break, you have talent, you have strength, and you have it in you to ascend to the next level, or recover from your current challenge or crisis, whatever that may be.

I also like how certain quotes and lessons life lessons are scattered throughout this book, which you can apply to your own life to improve and achieve the desired fulfillment that you're seeking. Some examples include, quote, 'what would you do if you weren't afraid?' And, quote, 'movement in a new direction helps you to find new cheese.' Quotes like this truly motivate the reader to take proactive and corrective action in their own lives, to visualize events before they happen, and to create a roadmap of success.

We can learn lessons from our past and apply them to our present and future. However, we cannot move on living in said past. There is a section in the book where ha asks himself quote, where am I going to find more cheese? Here at Cheese Station see which has been empty for a long time or in the maze? The other little person ham counters right away with fear based thoughts and doubts, such as, What if there is no cheese in the maze? Or even if there is, what if you don't find it? And quote, while at first, hod does succumb to hims protests, eventually, hod decides that enough is enough, and goes out and finds Cheese Station en, which was full of cheese. Of course, he had to go through many different corridors in order to find it, but he eventually achieved the objective. Could you imagine if he just stayed behind that Cheese Station see with him the cheese that hall believed he would find, in spite of his seemingly endless and confusing search, got him to where he needed to go. Of course, the mice Sniff and Scurry, were already there.

Let's step back for a moment. Can you imagine how much time and headaches you would have saved if you had taken more proactive and corrective action sooner in your own life, and anticipated and adapted to changes? Perhaps you are currently in a career that doesn't excite you. Or maybe you're a young person trying to figure out if you're in the right program at university or college. Perhaps you're anxious about an upcoming job interview, or asking out your crush, or someone who you believe is attractive.

Take a deep breath. Imagine you're your prolific future self and go out and take the steps to achieve that. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. Keep on going. The story and the character Haw teaches all of us that you will get there eventually draw strength from within and take notes along the way. I know it feels scary. And this is normal, natural and to be expected. But lead by faith, not by fear, and you will get to your destination.

Jacobs Final Thoughts

Who Moved My Cheese? was an absolute pleasure to read from beginning to end. The story imparts life lessons and cuts through all the noise without being condescending to the reader. The metaphors and analogies make excellent sense. And the story told is a compelling and relatable one for anyone who picks up and reads the book.