Frogs on a Log

Five frogs are sitting on a log. Four decide to jump off. How many are left?

Can you guess?

The answer is obviously one, right? Five frogs...four decide to jump...one remains.

Wrong.

Wrong, at least according to John Maxwell, who posed this question in his book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. The correct answer, according to him, is that if four frogs decide to jump, 

"Five remain. Why? Because there's a difference between deciding and doing."

What a perfect lesson in taking action. 

I love the image of the frog above, all snug in his bed, looking like my spirit animal. My guess is that he could conjure up dreams and plans and to-do lists all day long, but getting out from under those covers to actually work on them? Different story. 

In college, I remember thinking that if I was half as good at actually executing my study plans as I was at listing and color coding them, I could earn a PhD in a single semester. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, I would remind myself, which only made me feel worse. 

And yet, there is some truth to it. The Law of Diminishing Intent states that

The longer you wait to do something, the greater the odds you will never actually do it (Jim Rohn).

So to the frogs on the log (or under a blanket), me as a college student, or anyone who has struggled to act on their well-laid plans, a gentle reminder -

.