Who

Moved
My
Cheese?
An Amazing Way to Deal With Change In Your Work & An Amazing Way to Deal With Change In Your Work &
In Your Life In Your Life
DR SPENCER 1OHNSON DR SPENCER 1OHNSON
http://www.Whomovedmycheese.com http://www.Whomovedmycheese.com http://www.Whomovedmycheese.com
heese a metaphor Ior what we want to
have in liIe, whether it is a job, a relationship,
money, a big house, Ireedom, health,
recognition, spiritual peace, or even an activity
like jogging or golI.
Each oI us has our own idea oI what heese is,
and we pursue it because we believe it makes
us happy. II we get it, we oIten become
attached to it. And iI we lose it, or it`s taken
away, it can be traumatic.
E, long ago, there lived 4 little characters
who ran through a maze looking Ior cheese to
nourish them & make them happy.
Two were mice named $niII & $curry and
two were little people named em &
aw.
Every morning, the mice & the little people
dressed in their running gear & headed over to
heese $tation where they Iound their own
kind oI cheese. It was a large store oI heese
that em & aw eventually moved their
homes to be closer to it & built a social liIe
around it.
To make themselves Ieel more at home, em
& aw decorated the walls with sayings. ne
read:
Having Cheese Having Cheese
Nakes You Nakes You
Happy Happy
ne morning, $niII & $curry arrived at
heese $tation & discovered there was no
cheese.
They weren`t surprised. $ince they had noticed
the supply oI cheese had been getting smaller
every day, they were prepared Ior the
inevitable & knew instinctively what to do.
They were quickly oII in search oI ew
heese.
Later that same day, em & aw arrived.
What! o heese? Who moved my heese?
It`s not Iair!, em yelled. They went home
that night hungry & discouraged. But beIore
they leIt, aw wrote on the wall:
'he Nore !mportant 'he Nore !mportant
Your Cheese is 'o Your Cheese is 'o
You, 'he Nore You You, 'he Nore You
Want 'o Hold Onto Want 'o Hold Onto
!t. !t.
The next day em & aw leIt their homes, &
returned to heese $tation . But situation
hadn`t changed. aw asked, Where are $niII
& $curry? Do you think they know something
we don`t? em scoIIed, What would they
know? They`re just simple mice. They just
respond to what happens. We`re little people.
We`re smarter.
aw suggested, aybe we should stop
analyzing the situation so much and just get
going & Iind some ew heese.
aw decided to leave heese $tation while
aw was more comIortable staying in the
cheeseless $tation . em announced, It`s
AZE time! and wrote:
!f You Do Not !f You Do Not
Change, You Can Change, You Can
Become Extinct Become Extinct
eanwhile, $niII & $curry went Iarther into
the maze until they Iound Cheese Station N.
They Iound what they had been looking Ior: a
great supply oI ew heese. It was the biggest
store oI cheese the mice had ever seen.
aw on the other hand become more anxious
& wondered iI he really wanted to go out into
the aze. e wrote a saying on the wall ahead
oI him & stared at it Ior some time:
What Would You Do What Would You Do
!f You Weren't !f You Weren't
Afraid? Afraid?
aw now realized that the change probably
would not have taken him by surprise iI he had
been watching what was happening all along
and iI he had anticipated change. e stopped
Ior a rest & wrote on the wall oI the aze:
&mell 'he Cheese &mell 'he Cheese
Often &o You Know Often &o You Know
When !t !s Cetting When !t !s Cetting
Old. Old.
aw wondered iI em had moved on, or iI he
was still paralyzed by his own Iears. Then,
aw remembered the times when he had Ielt
his best in the aze. It was when he was
moving along. e wrote:
Novement !n A New Novement !n A New
Direction Helps You Direction Helps You
Find New Cheese. Find New Cheese.
As aw started running down the dark
corridor, he began to smile. aw didn`t realize
it yet, but he was discovering what nourished
his soul. e was letting go & trusting what lay
ahead Ior him, even though he did not know
exactly what it was.
To his surprise, aw started to enjoy himselI
more & more. e stopped to write again on the
wall:
When You Nove When You Nove
Beyond Your Fear, Beyond Your Fear,
You Feel Free. You Feel Free.
To make things even better, aw started to
paint a picture in his mind again. e saw
himselI in great realistic detail, sitting in the
middle oI a pile oI all his Iavorite cheeses-
Irom heddar to Brie! e saw himselI eating
the many cheeses he liked, & he enjoyed what
he saw.
The more clearly he saw the image oI himselI
enjoying ew heese, the more real &
believable it became. e wrote:
!magining Nyself !magining Nyself
Enjoying New Enjoying New
Cheese, Even Before Cheese, Even Before
! Find !t, Leads Ne ! Find !t, Leads Ne
'o !t. 'o !t.
aw wondered why he had always thought
that a change would lead to something worse.
ow he realized that change could lead to
something better.
Then he raced through the aze with greater
strength & agility. Until he Iound bits oI ew
heese. e entered the heese $tation but it
was empty. $omeone had already been there.
e stopped & wrote on the wall:
'he Quicker You Let 'he Quicker You Let
Co Of Old Cheese, Co Of Old Cheese,
'he &ooner you Find 'he &ooner you Find
New Cheese. New Cheese.
aw made his way back to heese $tation
to oIIer em bits oI ew heese but was
turned down. em wanted his 43 heese
back. aw just shook his head in
disappointment but this does not stop him Irom
Iinding ew heese. e smiled as he realized:
!t !s &afer 'o &earch !t !s &afer 'o &earch
!n 'he Naze 'han !n 'he Naze 'han
Remain !n 'he Remain !n 'he
Cheeseless Cheeseless
&ituation. &ituation.
aw realized again, that what you are aIraid oI
is never as bad as what you imagine. The Iear
you let build up in your mind is worse than the
situation that actually exists.
e realizes it was natural Ior change to
continually occur, whether you expect it or
not. hange could surprise you only iI you
didn`t expect it & weren`t looking Ior it.
When he realized he had changed his belieIs,
he paused to write on the wall:
Old Beliefs Do Not Old Beliefs Do Not
Lead You 'o New Lead You 'o New
Cheese. Cheese.
aw now realized that his new belieIs were
encouraging him to behave in a new way. e
was behaving diIIerently Irom the way he had
when he had kept returning to the same
cheeseless station.
It all depends on what you choose to believe.
e wrote on the wall:
When You &ee 'hat When You &ee 'hat
You Can Find And You Can Find And
Enjoy New Cheese, Enjoy New Cheese,
You Change Course. You Change Course.
aw just hoped he was heading in the right
direction. e thought about the possibility that
em would read The andwriting n The
Wall & Iind his way.
e wrote on the wall what he had been
thinking about Ior some time:
Noticing &mall Noticing &mall
Changes Early Helps Changes Early Helps
You Adapt 'o 'he You Adapt 'o 'he
Bigger Changes 'hat Bigger Changes 'hat
Are 'o Come. Are 'o Come.
e continued on through the aze with
greater strength & speed. e proceeded along
a corridor that was new to him, rounded a
corner, & Iound ew heese at heese $tation
where he saw the greatest supply oI heese
he had ever seen.$niII & $curry welcomed
him.
Hooray for Change! Hooray for Change!
aw wrote down a summary oI what he had
learned on the largest wall oI heese $tation
& smiled as he looked at what he had learned:
(nvnc 1vcn. (nvnc 1vcn.
/ni.ivc (nvnc /ni.ivc (nvnc
^onio (nvnc ^onio (nvnc
/vv Io (nvnc Qvi.[, /vv Io (nvnc Qvi.[,
(nvnc (nvnc
1n]o, (nvnc : 1n]o, (nvnc :
c )cvv, Io (nvnc Qvi.[, 1n]o, 1 c )cvv, Io (nvnc Qvi.[, 1n]o, 1
/vin. /vin.
%HE HANDWRI%ING ON %HE WALL %HE HANDWRI%ING ON %HE WALL
Nove With 'he Nove With 'he
Cheese S Enjoy !t ! Cheese S Enjoy !t !
!resented to you by Gerbie Rose Argaosa !resented to you by Gerbie Rose Argaosa
WG&A !assage ustomer $ervice WG&A !assage ustomer $ervice