Early bird catches the worm is a famous proverb which means that those who are in time or those who arrive earlier are the ones who get the best deals, or the best chances of success. In other words, this proverb also implies that laziness leads to failure while working on time is a key factor that contributes towards a person’s success.
The meaning of this saying is quite clear from its wordings. Let us look at the life of two kinds of birds. The first bird realizes it needs to feed itself and its family. To find worms to feed its family, the bird starts early in the morning when all the other birds are sleeping.
It leaves its nest and goes to find worms. The other birds have not woken up yet. Due to this, the bird gets the best choice of worms which are available in plenty simply because it was the first bird to get up and hunt for worms. The bird and its family have plenty to eat and they lead a fulfilled life.
On the other hand, the second bird gets up on its own time. It does not care about getting up early, and gets up when it wants to. Sleep and comfort are the most important things for it, but it indulges in it too much. Because of this, the bird becomes late.
By the time it goes to catch the worms to feed itself and its family, most of the worms are already gone. What it gets is nothing. This is the price it had to pay for its laziness. Even if it tries and works hard to find worms to feed its family and puts in all its efforts, it will be of no use. All the worms are already gone. No amount of hard work can help it now. This is all because it was late.
Which of the two birds was wiser? The answer is simple. The first bird was early therefore is caught the worms while the second bird was late, and could not get anything. Such a simple situation teaches us a lesson that will help us throughout our lives. It is the simple reality of life that those who are on time will achieve while those who are late will lose.
There are many distractions in our life. Watching T.V., playing video games, spending hours on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. are just a few useless activities we engage ourselves in while we procrastinate doing our work till the last moment.
This results in pressure and ultimate failure. Even if we are able to do our work in the last moment somehow, it is of bad quality and not our best. Our potential is wasted. We achieve nothing. Our talents remain dormant while we practically do nothing. People often say, ‘time is money’ and they might be true.
While people are wasting away their precious time doing things that does not matter, a few people who realize the importance of time work hard on time and seize every opportunity they get as soon as they see it.
This is what differentiates successful people from the crowd. Imagine what would have happened to the world if people like Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Elva Edison, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, etc. had wasted their time and procrastinated. Would the world be the same? No. They realized the importance of time, and that is why they are what they are today.
We know them and we admire them and to become like them and follow their footsteps, we need to do the same hard work they did. We need to be punctual and disciplined. We need to stop procrastinating and get our life together. Being on time, being early and seizing the opportunities, this is the essence of the phrase, ‘early bird catches the worm’.
Today, there are many joked posted on Facebook highlighting the fact that students procrastinate studying and then cram the whole syllabus into their minds one night before the exams. Unfortunately, this situation has become a reality and is no joking matter.
Ironically, the very media students and many other people waste their precious time on, Facebook, was created by the hard work of its founders who did not procrastinate and understood the value of time. Students who study on the last moment remain average or below average for all their lives.
The students who value their time and study in a disciplined manner truly shine. This is the difference between success and failure. Is wasting away time doing unproductive and mind- numbing activities really worth it?
Doing work in a systematic manner on time is very advantageous. When you make a proper road map and stick to the time table, you can not only properly execute the work on time but also have plenty of time left to review and improve. There will be no anxiety or tension that comes with the non- completion of work.
You will have time to relax. Because you planned ahead and stuck to the plan, the work you did is of superior quality, and you will be satisfied. You will have no regrets about what could be. You did your best.
On the other hand, when you are short on time simply because you procrastinated and started really late, you will be filled with anxiety and worry if you will be able to complete your work or not. Because of shortage of time, you will be in haste and will have no time to properly plan.
Therefore, the work you do will not be of a good quality. If you would have time then you would have done better. You will regret and other people will get all the praises while you will fade in the background simply because you were late in starting you work, simply because you procrastinated.
Is this fair to your dreams? Your dreams deserve more and so do you. You need to be the early bird that catches the worm and not the late lazy bird who got nothing and could only cry in regret. A person’s life is in his/her own hands. Only they can change their own fate and decide their own destiny.
The choice is in your hand. Would you be the procrastinator who despite being talented gets nothing, or would you like to be the proactive hard worker who, because of his proper usage of time is able to achieve what he wants and becomes successful? The choice is simple really.
Let us take the example of Pepsi Co’s Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi. Today, she is an inspiration to one and all. Through her hard work, she was able to achieve the position she has today.
She braved all odds. When asked about her secret to success, she simply said that one of the major contributing factors was that she got up early in the morning, sometimes even before sunrise, to work.
While the rest of the world was sleeping, she worked. That is what made her different from the rest. She stuck to the principle that early bird catches the worm. Today, she is one of the most powerful people in the world, a position that only the most remarkable people can achieve.
The secret of success of people who make it big in life is not really a secret. They succeed because they lead a principled and disciplined life.
They value their life and do not procrastinate. They abide by the principle that ‘the early bird catches the worm’. By following these principles, success becomes a reality. It is such simple things in life that distinguishes successful people from the normal people. It is on the person to decide what he/she wants to be.
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