The Hanuman rule: why bringing the whole mountain was smart

Transcript

Hanuman was sent to fetch one herb and he came back with an entire mountain. And honestly, I think it's the smartest thing he ever did. In the version most of us grew up with, Lakshman is lying unconscious on the battlefield, Ram is sitting next to him saying there's no point in this war without his brother and that he can't go home and face Lakshman's mother. Then the healer, Sushina says Lakshman needs the sun-giveny herb from the mountain in the Himalayas and it has to get you up before sunrise. So Hanuman flies there and he can't find him in Valmiki's telling the herbs actually even higher from him. He just can't tell which one is which. So instead of standing there guessing, he picks up the whole mountain and carries a back. Sushina takes one look and picks out the right herb. He crushes it and holds it under Lakshman's nose and Lakshman gets up. Now, we usually tell this as a story about strength. But look at the decision. He didn't know the answer and he didn't waste the night pretending he knew it. He just made sure the right answer was somewhere in whatever he brought back. And then he took it to the one person who could tell which herb was which. And a lot of us in life freeze because we can't tell which one is which. We can't tell which call it is right for us. What exactly do we learn next, what career do we pursue, or which of these four jobs do we apply for. And while he's standing there trying to be sure, the night is passing. That's the Hanuman rule. When you can't tell which one is right and taking all of them is cheaper than picking the wrong one, bring the entire mountain. Send all four applications, learn everything that you wanted to. Apply for absolutely everything and then sit down with yourself and sort it out.

Transcribed automatically from the video, so small errors are possible.