The musk deer is a solitary and shy member of the deer family and is found in many mountainous regions of the world including the Himalayas. Musk is the name of the substance that is obtained from a gland of the male musk deer which is used as a base to make several kinds of high-end perfumes across the world. Now that’s obviously not the point of this article. There is a striking similarity between a possibly apocryphal story that I heard about the musk deer and the behavior of certain kinds of people I meet in my training and coaching sessions.

The story goes that a must deer once starts getting this wonderful fragrance from time to time and is wondering where it’s coming from. So, he decides to follow the fragrance and goes long distances trying to track it down. By now, since the fragrance is constant, the deer keeps at it and even scales high mountains and treads through dense forests to find its source. Eventually he gives up and lies down to rest in the middle of a large open field. In the midst of this relaxing moment he realizes that the fragrance is coming from his own musk gland. He confirms this by sniffing himself and the fragrance gets stronger. This showers the deer with an immense sense of peace and joy. The long search was over and what he was looking for all along was right where he was and in fact was within him. This is what I call the “Musk Deer Effect”. As a coach and positive psychologist, I meet a lot of people through my work who are on this constant search for something outside that will give them a solution for their problems. Now this search is a good thing and might be a great starting point to get what you want in life. But finally, nothing will ever work if you don’t work on yourself or apply what you find or learn on yourself.

For example, people who love to read end up reading several books on areas that they like. This is great, but eventually if you want to get better, you need to apply what you learnt into your life. You need to look inward. Buying a book on Zen or a book on Happiness is not an assurance that you are going be Zen like or become Happy. Nor is merely reading those books an assurance of that. You will experience Zen or Happiness only when you apply what you learn into your own life. Just like what the musk deer does in the end. He looks inward.

There’s another category of people who love watching motivational videos, attending motivational talks and seminars or even reading and sharing motivational quotes on social media. None of this goes anywhere if you don’t apply at least some of it into your own life. Listening to a motivational speaker might motivate you for a few minutes or an entire evening but if you don’t look into yourself and don’t find ways in which you can develop greater levels of motivation every day, then you’re not going to be motivated. Just like the musk deer, it’s important to realize that the source is within you.

For instance, I’ve met people in my training programs who tell me that they’ve had interpersonal relationship problems in almost all their jobs throughout life. Even so, like the musk deer, they always thought it wasn’t them but something outside, like a bad boss, the wrong company culture, horrible coworkers, etc. It never occurred to them to step outside the chains of the musk deer effect and say, “maybe the problem is with my behavior. I need to be a more comfortable person to be around with and work with”.

Likewise, in all walks of life, whether it’s getting fit, becoming happy, growing spiritually or even feeling a sense of accomplishment, try looking within yourself. Don’t be trapped by the musk deer effect and spend months and years chasing something which is right within you. The moment you realize this and make positive changes, you’ll realize that the wonderful fragrance is all yours.