Who Moved My Cheese Author

Overview: The History Of The Story

Changes. This story told by author Spencer Johnson is about spontaneous changes in our lives, so that the only resistance encountered is ourselves.

In this way, the book begins by portraying a group of friends who had come together to remember their school days, when a discussion arises that each person’s life has changed in a way that they would never have imagined.

And to illustrate this, one of the friends tells the story of “Who Moved My Cheese?”, A narrative with four characters: Sniff and Scury and Hem and Haw , who were always looking for a special cheese, believing that this would make them more prosperous and fulfilled.

To do this, the four of them went through a confused labyrinth every day in search of this product, using the skills they acquired with the vast experience of life over the years.

Until they found it! Yes! Each one found their cheese at Point C, which totally changed their routines.

The habits and behaviors of the little men have changed, because now they already knew where they would find the cheese, regardless of the circumstances that caused the product to be there.

How To Anticipate And Adapt To Change Quickly

And the next time that times are a-changing? Reflect on your previous mistakes and dont let those changes surprise you!

Recall that no matter how secure something feels, you should always expect change to happen.

Because when you expect change to happen, youll better monitor and anticipate it early.

And when you monitor and anticipate change early, youll find it easier to adapt to it quickly.

And when you adapt to change quickly you may find you even enjoy it.

And when you enjoy change youll learn to love testing the edge of your comfort zone youll be ready to embrace change again and again when it happens.

Youll be less stressed, less unhappy and more adaptive than those who resist the inevitable.

Youll shift your focus from losing what once was, to gaining what might someday be.

Youll have more time, space and energy to embrace new outcomes that may prove even better than the old ones.

And youll enjoy a time-tested path to more success in your life and your work.

Who Moved My Cheese Lesson #2

Let go of the past: When things change, move forward quickly. The longer you wait, the more resistance you build to moving, and the harder itll be to adapt later.

• In the story: Sniff and Scurry were action-oriented, and set off immediately to search for new cheese. It helped that they also kept things simple and didnt overanalyze or overcomplicate things by, for instance, getting hung up on what ifs.
• In the story: Initially, Haw also stayed with Hem and wished for things to return to normal. But Haw came to his senses and realized the world had changed, and he had to change with it. Later he concluded that adapting to change is easier the less you wait.
• Many people who finally muster the courage to leave a job or relationship thats not working for them, often wonder in retrospect why they hadnt made the change sooner.

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Who Moved My Cheese Summary

Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw are four characters that live in a dark, elaborate maze, each searching for their own special cheese to nourish them.

The mice, Sniff and Scurry, use the simple trial-and-error method of finding cheese. The two Littlepeople, Hem and Haw, rely on their complex brains to develop more sophisticated strategies of finding Cheese. But due to Hem and Haws beliefs, their emotions often take over and cloud the way they look at things, making life in the maze overly complicated and challenging.

One morning, both mice and the Littlepeople locate their favorite type of cheese at the end of one of the corridors in Cheese Station C. Every morning after that, the mice head over there to feast, waking early each morning and following the same route, establishing a routine in the process.

In the beginning, Hem and Haw also race to Cheese Station C every morning. However, over time, the two Littlepeople arrive later and later, confident that the cheese will always be there.

One morning, the mice arrive at Cheese Station C and notice that there is no cheese. They arent surprised. Since Sniff and Scurry noticed the supply of cheese dwindling every day, the mice are prepared for the inevitable and know what to do.

To the mice, the problem and the answer are both simple. The situation at Cheese Station C has changed. So, Sniff and Scurry decide to change. Before long, they scurry off in search of New Cheese in the maze.

Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When Its Getting Old

Complacency makes us lose focus. Sniff and Scurry were able to find new cheese, a long time before Hem and Haw. They did this by closely monitoring the initial cheese scenario. They remained action-focused, rather than becoming caught in over-analysis and stale resentments.

Can you identify any areas of your life that may be getting stale? What action steps do you need to take in your own life? Perhaps, it’s time to learn a new skill or shift your focus. Maybe, there’s a relationship that needs some rebuilding. Either way, it’s vital to trust your instincts and become action-orientated in the face of change.

The difficulty is that, like Hem, we tend to resist change, while reminiscing about the way things were. Many of us focus on the past, rather than the present or the future. As Haw’s journey progressed, he found little bits of cheese along the way, which helped him develop a taste for adventure. He even went back to offer Hem some of this new cheese, but Hem refused. Hem was reluctant to test the unknown.

Rather than stay with Hem at the old cheese station, Haw realized it was necessary to continue through the maze. Staying in the same place for fear of the unknown isn’t a productive way of living. So, to make room for the new, we must let go of the old. To quote the author, ‘The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you can enjoy new cheese.’

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Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese

Can you imagine never experiencing new things again? Rather than resisting and resenting change, ask yourself what would happen if you could embrace it instead. It can be exhilarating to break out of old ways, and begin the search for something new. In the story, Haw eventually finds the new cheese. The journey forever changes him.

The joy of the cheese is accentuated by the lessons and experiences that he learns along the way. Change alters him for the better, and he becomes more curious. Through going on one adventure, Haw continues exploring areas outside. He is motivated to extend his search and journey on to new cheese stations. So, the more open to change we’re, the more of the world we can open up for ourselves.

The Narrative: Who Moved My Cheese

Before we cover the most important Who Moved My Cheese lessons, we need to know the story at its heart.

The story takes place in a maze, where four characters search for and consume cheese. Cheese represents happiness or satisfaction in its various forms for instance, security, prestige, or wealth.

Two characters, Sniff and Scurry, are mice who take an industrious, uncomplicated trial-and-error approach to finding cheese. They dont overthink things, instead trying out various routes until one day they find a large store of cheese. Well see that this is one of the most important Who Moved My Cheese lessons.

The other two characters, Hem and Haw, are little humans who apply more sophisticated thinking and analytical skills to the daily search. They, too, find the same large stockpile of cheese as the mice.

But the two have very different attitudes toward their situation. The humans Hem and Haw take the cheese for granted, assuming it will always be there. By contrast, the mice stay alert to their surroundings. They notice that the quality and supply of the cheese are slowly dwindling.

One day the cheese is gone. How the characters cope with this change offers lessons in surviving and thriving despite the inevitable changes in life and the workplace.

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Who Moved My Cheese Review

Who Moved My Cheese? is a short, light-hearted parable about change, by best-selling author, . It follows the physical and emotional journeys of two mice and two little people as they search, find, lose and must rediscover their supply of cheese, in a large, twisting maze.

Johnsons bits of cheese are a metaphor for what you want in life a good job, a loving relationship, money, possessions, health or spiritual peace of mind. The maze is where you look for it the organisation you work for, the family or community you live in. And the problem is that no stash of cheese lasts forever. Life changes, cheese supplies run out and we can all find ourselves suddenly cheeseless, whether we like it or not.

Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haws stories illustrate the importance of and an amazing way to deal with change. And though its disarmingly simple , Who Moved My Cheese? captures and explores powerful and resonant life lessons that could have been written just for you.

Its ultimate conclusion? Change is inevitable. Effective people monitor change, anticipate it, adapt to it, learn to embrace and enjoy it. If you do not change you can become extinct. If you do change you wont just suffer less stress and unhappiness, youll enjoy more success and fulfilment in every part of your life and your work.

Id definitely recommend picking up the original. Its fact-light, story-heavy format also makes it perfect to devour via audible.

Who Moved My Cheese Lesson #6

Learn to enjoy change: New experiences, discoveries, and achievements are rewarding, usually more so than continuing to do the same things.

• In the story: Once Haw started searching for new cheese, he realized he felt better just from taking action, and he soon began to enjoy the adventure he hadnt realized how complacent hed gotten from sitting around at the old cheese pile. The key to enjoying change was that he had changed first his attitude, and then his behavior.

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Introduction: Who Moved My Cheese

Who moved my cheese is a fable about four characters who live in a maze and they all love cheese. When the cheese disappears, Scurry and Sniff enthusiastically head out into the maze to find new cheese. On the other hand Hem and Hall feel betrayed and complain. They waste their time and energy hoping the old cheese will return. Hall realizes the old cheese wont return so he sets out into the maze in search for new cheese. He writes what he learns on the walls hoping that Him will follow him. Eventually he discovers new cheese and sees that Scurry and Sniff were already there. Cheese a metaphor for what you want to have in life. It could be a good job, loving relationship, money or health. The very core message of the book is this: things constantly change so we must adapt. The quicker we adapt a change the more satisfied will be with.

Spencer Johnson Who Moved My Cheese Author Dies At 78

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By Richard Sandomir

Spencer Johnson, who left behind a medical career to write short books about life and business, including Who Moved My Cheese? a parable about embracing change that has sold 28 million copies worldwide died on Monday in San Diego. He was 78.

The cause was complications of pancreatic cancer, said Nancy Casey, his executive assistant.

Who Moved My Cheese?, which was published in 1998, was the story in 94 pages of large type of two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two tiny people, Hem and Haw, looking for cheese in a maze. When the cheese supply runs out at Cheese Station C, the mice leave without angst to find more.

But Hem and Haw resist, refusing to accept change. Haw overcomes his anxiety and ventures out of his comfort zone at first timidly, but then, gradually, with more confidence in search of a new supply of cheese.

Before long, he knew why he felt good, Mr. Johnson wrote about Haw. He stopped to write again on the wall: When you stop being afraid, you feel good!

The book became a publishing phenomenon and a workplace manual that preached how flexibility in the face of changing times will reward people. Those who are wedded to the past and lag behind, like the intransigent Hem, will not survive.

Mr. Johnson objected, saying that he and Mr. Blanchard were already charging $15 and could not meet the demand before that, they were charging $10 for photocopies of the book.

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Who Moved My Cheese Lessons

Its easy to draw parallels from the story to unsettling changes in our own lives for instance, changes in a job, relationship, or health. The characters flaws and successes reflect our own tendencies when confronting change: Like Haw, we may resist, complain, and deny change because weve become complacent or afraid. Or we can be like Sniff and Scurry, staying on our toes, preparing for future change, not overanalyzing things, and being ready to adapt without fear.

Even when we adapt, change is initially challenging, and Who Moved My Cheese offers a road map for navigating change in a way that minimizes stress. These are the Who Moved My Cheese lessons.

What Is Who Moved My Cheese About

Who Moved My Cheese? is a parable about change that takes place in a Maze where four characters look for Cheesecheese being a metaphor for what we want in life.

The four imaginary characters depicted in the storythe mice: Sniff and Scurry, and the Littlepeople: Hem and Haware intended to represent the simple and the complex parts of ourselves.

Whatever parts of us we choose to use, we all share something in common: a need to find our way in the Maze and succeed in changing times.

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Overview: The Full Life

After finding the cheese, Hem and Haw, the human characters, believed that the full life was already guaranteed, after all, they had to work hard to find what they wanted so much. They gave themselves the luxury of waking up late, as there was no longer the worry caused by demand.

However, Sniff and Scury, the mice, kept the same routine, waking up early and checking if something had changed, because even if they had already found what they wanted, it was necessary to keep it.

Until the Cheese disappeared, as the mice already assumed.

As narrated by Spencer Johnson in his book, “Who Moved My Cheese?”, The animals reacted quickly, returning to the search stage, while the humans were incredulous, had taken away their happiness. They still did not know what to do, immobile.

It didn’t take long for the rats to find a new stock of cheese, while the humans were still in the denial phase, trying to blame someone for what had happened.

Big Who Moved My Cheese Lessons

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Notes And Takeaways From Who Moved My Cheese

When I read it: August 2021

Why I read it: My Mama recommended this book to me. I wish I had read it sooner. It’s a short book about how to manage yourself through difficult life changes. It sold a million copies in the first 16 months and over 21 million copies five years later.

Go to the for the book or scroll down for my notes.

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Who Moved My Cheese Lesson #5

Handle your fears: Fear can have one of two effects: 1) It can paralyze you, if you imagine all that can go wrong if you leave your familiar ground, or 2) it can spur you into action if you fear that things will get worse if you dont do something. The second fear is productive and healthy.

• In the story: Haw feared not finding new cheese if he ventured out into new areas of the maze. But he also realized he definitely wouldnt find any by staying put. He asked himself, What would you do if you werent afraid?

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A Brief Summary Of The Book

Who moved my cheese revolves around the four characters who live in a maze. All of them love cheese. When the cheese disappears, Sniff and Scurry head into the maze to search for new cheese while Hem and Haw feel betrayed and start complaining that someone had stolen their cheese from them. Hem and Haw wasted their time and energy believing that their old cheese will return.

After several days, Haw lost hope and realized that the old cheese would not return, and he decided to head into the maze to search for new cheese. Haw tried convincing Hem, but Hem was stiff and wanted his old cheese back. During Haws journey in the maze, he wrote whatever lesson he learned on the wall believing that one day Hem might move on and start finding new cheese. In the end, Haw found a huge place filled with cheese and discovered that Sniff and Scurry had already been there.