Why The Tortoise and Hare Isn’t About Pace

Aesop’s fables have infiltrated our culture to a remarkable degree. The story of the Tortoise and the Hare is an example of one of these fables.

I was always taught that the moral of the Tortoise and the Hare is “slow and steady wins the race.” But I’ve recently had cause to look at this fable again, and I find that really isn’t the moral at all.

The Tortoise And The Hare

So for those of you not familiar with the fable, I’m going to do a quick retelling here.

A tortoise challenged a hare to a foot race. The hare laughed. After all, the tortoise was very slow and could not beat the hare on a foot race. But the tortoise persisted. They started the race.

Going out of the gate that the tortoise plodded forward slowly and steadily. The hare also took off and when they rounded the first band look back and said “I’ve got all the time in the world.” So the hare then does all sorts of distraction activities, like taking a nap, getting a snack – that sort of thing. (The same things you and I do when we’re putting off a task…)

In the end, the tortoise wins the race because he has been steadily moving forward toward the finish line. The hare may have had all the time in the world to complete the race, but the distractions kept him from winning.

How It Is Usually Portrayed

Normally, this fable is portrayed as one values the result of steady movement and pacing.

In fact, some time management systems, like Do It Tomorrow, touts the value of little and often. This is a direct application of the standard moral of the tortoise and hare.

And I’m not denying that working on things a little at a time is often more consistent and takes you more forward toward your goals than waiting until you have a large chunk of time.

However I really don’t think that the moral is just “slow and steady wins the race.”

The Real Meaning of the Story

To me this tale really has nothing to do about the pacing of actions.

Instead it is about the deliberate and directed action of the tortoise towards reaching the goal.

If the tortoise was moving in the wrong direction, there is no way that any amount of steady action would take him towards the finish line.

Instead, the tortoise knows where he is going, and takes deliberate actions in order to get there.

Why It’s About Deliberate Action

it seems to me that The Tortoise and Hare, is really about deliberate living.

The rabbit intends to win the race. But he doesn’t take the action that he needs to reach his goal.

On the other hand, the tortoise sees the goal and makes a decision to move in that direction consistently.

It’s a perfect example of deliberate living over intentional living.

Action Item

If you are considering implementing the moral of the Tortoise and the Hare, by doing “little and often,” I want you to reconsider.

Write down what your goal is, then write down 10 deliberate actions you can take in 15 minutes or less that will move you toward that goal.

Remember that all the steady movement in the world will not get you to your goal if you are moving in the wrong direction.

Image by wwarby. Licensed under Creative Commons. Text added.