This past week I was lucky enough to travel to the Galapagos Islands.

As you can see in the photos, above, prickly cacti abound on every island but one– the one where cacti have no natural predators.

As our guide explained, “With no predators, there’s no need to put energy into defending themselves.”

 I found both stroking the cactus and contemplating its wisdom in not expending unnecessary energy on non-existent predators extraordinary.

Why?

Because many of us (myself included) go into new situations/jobs/relationships convinced we need to channel energy into defending ourselves.

We never check to see if there are, in fact, predators.

And this choice both wastes our energy, and keeps others from getting to know us.

For tips on working with someone who has made the choice to defend against a non-existent predator, take a look at “I Said Explain, You Heard Defend—Now What?”