What You Should Learn About Success From the Honey Badger

We take lessons about success where we find them.

Someone posted a short video about a honey badger on Facebook this morning (It’s not the honey badger video you’ve seen. It’s better than that one.) In this video, a zookeeper is trying to keep the honey badger locked up and out of trouble after he escapes his pen and survives being attacked by lion.

First, the zookeeper gets the honey badger a female companion, hoping that will settle him down. Instead, the male honey badger teaches the female honey badger how to pull open the locks on the gate and they escape together.

The zookeeper, frustrated, locks the honey badger in deep whole with concrete walls. But there are trees in the pen, and the honey badger climbs a tree, climbs out onto a branch, and uses his own weight to lower the branch onto the other side of the pen, once again freeing himself.

The zookeeper removes all of the trees, eliminating the possibility of escape. But the honey badger is dead set on leaving, and he digs up a half dozen rocks and piles them against the wall so he can climb out of his pen. The zookeeper removes the rocks. The honey badger makes round balls of mud and piles them against the wall.

What a clever honey badger. Indeed, he is smart. But he is more than that, and he has the attributes that you need to succeed in any endeavor.

First, the honey badger is determined. He persists in his efforts until he succeeds, never giving up, regardless of the obstacle. Success doesn’t often come easy. It’s almost always the result of a pigheaded determination. You only fail when you give up, give in, and go home. You fail when you quit trying.

Second, the honey badger is resourceful. When something doesn’t work, he tries something else. When something is taken away from him, he finds something new. That’s the definition of resourcefulness, making something out of nothing. Determination works better when it’s coupled with resourcefulness. It’s sometimes enough to keep chipping away at a stone until it breaks. But more often it is better to change your approach.

Be a honey badger.