Sting Like a Bee: Tips for the Little Guy

Muhammad Ali described his boxing style with the famous phrase: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” 

Did you ever wonder why a heavyweight boxer would compare himself to a tiny bumblebee?

The average bumblebee weighs about five hundredths of a gram. They say a queen bumblebee weighs almost a full gram, but no one’s really sure because it’s not polite to ask a lady about her weight. But even the biggest bee in the world would not rank as a heavyweight.

And yet, if a bumblebee—a cute, little bumblebee—flew into your face, it’s likely you would run for safety and swing your arms in a panic.

How crazy is that? Even if you only weigh 100 pounds, you are still one bee-zillion times bigger and stronger than a bumblebee. So, why all the fuss?

First, because that bumblebee is capable of stinging you. Second, because if it decides to, it will sting you!

That combination of capability and decision magically turns that cute, little bee into something scary.

Of course, it’s not just bees that wield that kind of power. Ever find a snake in your yard? A bat in your attic? Or have a dog charge across the street, barking at you?

When you think about the fear caused not just by large animals, but by small animals, even tiny animals, like spiders, centipedes, and bumblebees, clearly, size doesn’t matter.

But don’t forget–we’re animals, too. As a human being, you can be just as scary as a bumblebee the moment you switch your mindset to attack, and not panic.

You can stomp on the snake. Kick the dog right in the mouth. Smash the bat with a bat. And yes—swat the bee. You’re already capable…you just have to make the decision to do it.

I think about the power of the bumblebee all the time when training in the martial arts…

The way I see it, the martial arts aren’t really designed for people who are big and strong. If you’re big and strong, you don’t need special training to get what you want. You just take it. But if you’re smaller, weaker, slower, or older, you need all the tactics, tricks, and techniques you can get!

And I can sum up all that wisdom in three little words– BE A BEE.

Okay, three words and now six tips. Here they are…

How to Sting Like a Bee

Sting Like a Bee Tip #1: Identify your strengths and weaknesses.

The fact is, even if you know exactly what you want, and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get it, you’ll never succeed if you don’t know which tools you’ve got…and which ones you don’t.

Success is dependent on playing your strengths and improving or managing your weaknesses. You can fill all the holes in your game, but only if you know what your game actually is. To figure that out, you need the most important tool of all—AWARENESS.

Here’s the hard truth—in any area of your life, if you suddenly find yourself losing or fighting to survive, the problems probably weren’t all that sudden. There are almost always early warning signs and clues that trouble is coming. But you have to be sensitive enough to notice them. That means you have to pay attention.

Show up. Get in the trenches. Ask questions. Listen to your intuition.

Big guys don’t need to be very sensitive because if they find themselves in a bad position, they can use their muscle to force their way out. But when you’re the little guy, you can’t force anything.

That’s why the smart strategy for the little guy is to prevent trouble. And the best way to do that is to pay attention.

Sting Like a Bee Tip #2: Position yourself where you can win.

Positioning alone can be the difference between life and death, success and failure. Here’s how I learned about the importance of positioning.

I knew this guy named Ravi… which is short for Ravioli. (I think of him as a Beef Ravioli because he really was square-shaped and plump in the middle.)

Ravi outweighed me by more than 100 pounds. One day, Ravi asked me to spar with him even though he had never trained in any martial art.

My ego insisted, “I can take this guy. I don’t even need any strategy. I can take him standing toe-to-toe.”

So, I puffed up my chest and went after him…and got pounded and thrown around like a puppet. But—and this is critical—after about 20 minutes of having my ego beaten out of me, I desperately fell back on my training and moved to Ravi’s side. And two interesting things happened…

First: I hit him more, he hit me less. Standing in Ravi’s blind spot gave me an advantage.

Second: Ravi panicked. His game was manhandling people right in front of him. But when I slipped out of his comfort zone, he curled up. Ravi suddenly became the little guy.

The lesson: Even though I had skills and Ravi didn’t, Ravi could still beat me. Not because he was any good, but because I was in the wrong place.

If I had simply focused on preventing myself from being in a bad position, I could have applied my strengths and skills, made him panic, and won. Instead, I ended up in the hospital.

To sting like a bee, position matters.

Maybe you have a great product, but you’re selling it to the wrong people. Maybe you have a great talent, but you’re using it in the wrong business. Maybe you have a great attitude, but you’re hanging out with people who don’t appreciate it.

It’s so easy to start doubting yourself and your abilities when things aren’t working… but consider this: your lack of success may not be because of who you are, but where you are.

Sting Like a Bee Tip #3: Make Decisions. 

A good plan is just a collection of good decisions. But to have an advantage over the big guys, the little guy needs to embrace the power of making quick decisions.

Get an idea and go for it. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, then you’ll be learning a lot more than someone who hasn’t decided to do anything.

Decision-making, like a gun, is the great equalizer.

The big guy may have 1,000 employees where you only have one. The big guy may have a budget of 10 million dollars where you only have the change in your pocket. But when it comes to making decisions, you can be smarter, faster, and construct a better plan than anyone in the world.

Making a decision changes your thinking from defense to offense. It’s like throwing a punch. It puts you on the attack. You become a fighter, not a victim.

Making a decision sparks an instantaneous, almost magical transformation, changing you from a mild-mannered little guy to a superhero.

Of course, many of us hesitate when making decisions because we fear making a mistake. But shouldn’t we all know by now that the biggest mistake is hesitation itself?

You can’t learn by doing nothing. You have no chance at winning if you don’t play. To sting like a bee, the little guy needs to build confidence in making decisions—for better or for worse.

And let’s be honest— even when you hesitate and debate your choices, are the results any different? Don’t you still win and lose? Decide faster, learn faster, and use all the time you save wisely.

Sting Like a Bee Tip #4: Take action.

Having good information and making smart decisions add up to nothing if you don’t take action. I say–never be proud of a plan until you start it.

Being a bee means relying on hustle, not muscle. Hustle means you take the advantage right away. Getting to the side, or into a blind spot, is worthless if you don’t maximize the opportunity.

Sting like a bee–hit hard and fast before the big guy can turn and square up with you again.

Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “Busy as a bee?” So, be a bee. A worker bee. Turn your decisions into do-cisions.

Now, here’s the only trouble with quick decisions and hustle. If you’re not getting the results you want right away, it’s easy to give up on your plan. Or worse than giving up, you start putting less energy and enthusiasm into it, which just drags out the failure, saps your spirit, and wastes time before you can try something new. That’s why—

Sting Like a Bee Tip #5: Commit to your plan.

You don’t dilly-dally, deviate, or get distracted. You make a beeline to your goal.

The bumblebee doesn’t doubt its decisions. It doesn’t hold back. Or have an off-day. It flies out to get pollen, brings it back, and repeats that mission over and over till the day it dies.

No misgivings. No guilt. No need for therapy.

The bumblebee commits so deeply that, ultimately, there is no separation between the creature and its mission. A honeybee makes honey. Period.

What do you do? Is what you do the same as who you are?

My hope for you is that your talents, your ambitions, your mission, and your work are so tightly and inextricably intertwined that it all becomes one.

Sting Like a Bee Tip #6: Pick your battles.

Not all bees fly around in swarms and terrorize people. Bumblebees actually don’t swarm at all. They’re not aggressive. I’ve never even seen one drunk or heard one swear!

Bumblebees only attack in defense of their nest or if threatened with harm. Otherwise, bumblebees just focus on their mission.

If you want to be successful, stick to as narrow a mission as possible.

Picking your battles will keep you from spreading yourself too thin. In business, companies overreach all the time. They do one thing well and figure they’ll just do something else, too.

In relationships, people overreach when they expect too much from their partner. If you demand that your significant other meet every need you have—entertainment, stimulation, inspiration—stop it! They can’t provide everything you want any more than you can provide everything they want.

The little guy has to be aware of and accept the strengths and weaknesses of others just as readily as their own. That’s the key to a happy hive.

Bottom line: When you try to win at everything, you will win at nothing.

The little guy has limited time, limited energy, limited power, and limited money. Pick your battles well and you won’t waste time and effort on the wrong things.

Whether you’re building a company, pursuing a degree, or changing a relationship, break your goal down into steps, prioritize them, and give each step your full commitment.

Link your successes in a chain instead of trying to accomplish everything all at once. It takes time and thousands of little deliveries of pollen to make honey.

WARNING! The big guys out there almost always started off as little guys. The big trick–whether you’re a big guy now or on your way to becoming one–is to keep thinking like a little guy.

Keep the habits that made you successful. Don’t be so pleased with your successes that you lose your sensitivity to what’s going on. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of time before the next little guy takes you out.

A CHALLENGE FOR YOU…

Think about your life for a moment. Identify an area that disappoints you. An area you figure is not going to get any better. An area in which you may have given up fighting. Before you throw in the towel, ask yourself these questions…

Are you actively using your greatest strengths and skills?

Have you accepted your limitations and figured out what you still need to learn? And where to get help to do what you’re not capable of doing?

Are you picking the right battles or are you choosing fights you can’t win?

Are you standing to-to-toe with a problem when you should be slipping to the side? Is there a small change you can make in your approach to your goal?

Are you fearful of making a mistake or do you have the courage to make decisions, come what may?

Does your plan tackle too much at once, or is it broken down into steps that can be achieved one at a time?

Are you hustling to achieve your goals? What distractions are holding you back from making a beeline to success?

Have you turned your decisions into do-cisions? Is your mindset truly focused on success?

Last question. What will your life look like if it don’t achieve your goal? If your plan doesn’t work? Does that scare you?

If so, it’s time to flip the switch from defense to offense. From victim to fighter. From flight to fight.

You may be the little guy, but I hope you now realize that being the little guy is a good thing. Learning to sting like a bee may actually be an advantage. So…

Be a bee, my friend… be a bee.

This article is a summary of the Fight for a Happy Life podcast, “The Fight of the Bumblebee.” Listen to the full episode here.