2 min read · Sep 5, 2022
--
“Kept in a small bowl, the goldfish will remain small. With more space, the fish will grow double, triple or quadruple its size.” — Big Fish
The quote above is from one of my favorite movies, Big Fish — a beautiful film about storytelling and life. As the movie is fictional, I wasn’t sure if this fact was true, so I looked it up.
I was fascinated to learn that goldfish do in fact grow relative in size to their environment and, through researching this phenomenon a bit more, I also found out why this happens. The answer gave me a lot more than just a fun fact to share about goldfish, it gave me a new perspective on my own life.
So what could the biology of goldfish possibly teach me about my own life?
Goldfish naturally release growth-inhibiting hormones gamma-aminobutyric acid and somatostatin into the water around them. Evolutionarily, this is for competition between males for the females. The larger the goldfish, the better chance he has at ‘fulfilling his destiny’ (you could say). So, they release these hormones to stunt the growth of nearby males in order to better their chances. Yet in captivity, this hormone release has the inverse effect — it stunts their own growth.
These defensive and competitive hormones that they put out into their environment come back to haunt them when contained — a literal example of the classic saying, a ‘taste of your own medicine’.
In the movie, this biological fact is used to explain the extreme speed with which Edward Bloom grows from a boy into a man — he sees it as evidence that he is destined for greater things.
Somewhat similarly, I see this as a perfect metaphor for how our own limiting beliefs can hold us back from fulfilling our true potential.
If you believe your potential is limited, it will be. Like the goldfish, you will grow only to fill the small space that you believe you have to occupy. Yet, if you see your potential as limitless, you will push boundaries, not settle, and seek more — often achieving things you never would’ve thought possible.
It’s all about our own perception. We determine the ‘size of our tank’, and fill the metaphorical space accordingly.
So, you are the goldfish. Yet you can choose your environment. Will you choose a safe, small bowl in a sunny window or the wild and vast ocean beyond?
