Who Moved My Cheese? | Book Review
New Year, New Book
The new year is here and I’m kicking it off with finishing my first book of 2022, Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, M.D.. This book has come up over and over again in various conversations over the years so while I was browsing Barnes and Noble I knew I had to pick it up. It just so happened to be the perfect book to start the new year with because it is all about change, and who isn’t trying to better themselves in the new year?
While this book is a self help or personal growth book it is written as a fictional story about two mice and two little people looking for their cheese. I love personal growth books written in story format because they are generally easy to read and re-read, each time you read them you take something different away, and they usually keep your attention because they are simple concepts. No wondering minds over here.😂
What is the book about?
There are two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two little people, Hem and Haw. They are each on the hunt for cheese in a maze to survive. Once all four find the initial cheese they continue to go back day after day knowing exactly how to get to the cheese and how the day will go. However, the mice never take off their running shoes and are always ready to go. Hem and Haw do not take that approach as they get comfortable. This can be seen with most of us as we start to get into a routine and may not start to notice the cheese stash is getting low.
One day all four come back and the cheese is no longer there. Sniff and Scurry take off into the maze to find more while Hem and Haw putz around to make a decision on what they are going to do. They actually sit on the decision for quite some time until Haw decides to give the maze another go. He cannot talk Hem into it and actually comes back for Hem at one point during the story and he was still not wanting to go into the maze and waiting for his cheese to return.
My thoughts
Obviously there are other little nuances in the book, but that is what I remember off the top of my head. To me a few things really stuck out. The mice were always ready to go and to take action. They are high achievers that no matter what just jump in and don’t necessarily need to plan. They take action right away.
Haw is maybe more of a perfectionist. I saw more of myself in Haw. It took him a bit to get up the courage to go, he had to ponder on the thought of reentering the maze, calculate the risks, but eventually went for it and was rewarded.
Hem on the other hand reminds me of the negative Nancy’s in your life. You may love them, but they don’t want you to move forward or talk you out of taking the risk even when you know it is the right one to make. Then when you try to get them to come along they don’t because they aren’t ready. Since everyone is on a different growth journey they might not be ready.
I’d love to know what your thoughts were if and when you read the book! It is always fascinating to see what others take away from the same stories. I’ll also be interested to see what my own thoughts are the next time I read this book.
Time to Read
Less than an hour (I wasn’t actually timing it so I’m not sure how much less. It was really fast).
Would I re-read?
Yes, I think I’d take away something different depending on the phase of life I was in at the time.
