A classic experiment was first conducted in 1873 by a German zoologist who put a large pike in a tank of water and fed the pike small bait fish. After awhile, he divided the tank by inserting a heavy glass in it. Then, he dropped the small fish into the section separated from the pike by the glass.
The pike charged the little fish. It charged over and over, and each time the pike charged into the fish to eat them, it crashed into the glass. After a number of attempts, the pike gave up and no longer tried.
When the glass was finally removed, the pike and its prey (the little fish) peacefully shared the tank. The pike had learned that pursuing the small fish caused headaches.
Are we any different from the pike? No, we are not. When we let past and painful experiences hold us back from trying something new, we are suffering from the Pike Syndrome. We show fearful behavior based on assumptions that are no longer true. We are then limited by self-limiting beliefs, by what we were been told over and over, …. By many things that might no longer be valid.
That is why we need to try, because we don’t know if the glass is no longer there. We need to revisit our fears and limitations and see if what we were told, what we experienced is still out there.