The Amazing Life Lessons You Can Learn From The Lion – King of the Jungle

Hi good people. I recently took a few weeks break from blogging and my regular activities. I needed time to relax, recharge, and re-energize after a hectic year. I did many things during my break, including going on Safari. One of the animals I observed keenly during game drives was the lion – the King of the Jungle.

The lion amazed and amused me greatly. I also learned some amazing life lessons from the lion.

Let me share the amazing life lessons you can learn from a lion without further ado.

Be A Good Team Player

One of the amazing lessons you can learn from a lion is to be a good team player.

You see, lions live in prides and move in packs. A pride can have as many as 15 lions – males, females, and cubs.

They protect their territories and hunt as a team.

Each lion has to cooperate and play its role well if they want to make a kill and also survive in the jungle.

This is a good lesson for you. When you’re a good team player, your team can achieve its goals/targets.

If you aren’t a good team player, your team may not succeed.

Plan Strategically To Achieve Your Life Goals

Another amazing lesson you can learn from the lions is planning strategically to achieve your life goals.

As I went on game drives, I encountered lions hunting. I noted that they strategized carefully when hunting. They didn’t just pounce on any animal nearby.

They marked their targeted animal, stalked, and waited patiently for the right moment. They then walked stealthily towards their target and pounced at just the right time.

This is a great lesson for you. Avoid jumping into things. This could be in terms of businesses, jobs, relationships, etc.

If you want to achieve your goals, it’s best to plan carefully and be strategic. Then, make a move when the time is right.

Be Courageous To Overcome Obstacles

During one of the game drives, I experienced something that will remain in my memory forever. I watched a pride of lions hunting among a herd of buffaloes. The buffaloes were huge and were approximately 20 in number. The lions were only 6.

The whole lions versus buffaloes spectacle/drama took hours. All the people stopped to watch the drama unfold from the top of their game drive vehicles.

As I saw the drama unfold, I realized that the lion is not the largest or strongest animal in the wild. There are bigger and stronger animals, such as buffaloes and elephants.

However, the lions still hunt and devour these huge and strong animals. The lions manage to do this because they’re courageous.

We were thrilled and excited when the lions finally overwhelmed their targeted prey. I felt sorry for the fallen buffalo, but I know in the jungle, it’s survival for the fittest.

The lesson you can learn from lions from this is to be courageous in whatever you set your mind to do.

Avoid allowing yourself to feel intimidated by obstacles along your way. Face your obstacles, threats, and doubts head-on. When you do so, you’ll succeed.

If the lions looked at the number and size of the buffaloes, they’d have given up. Maybe they’d have slept hungry. The lions’ courage and confidence helped them to make a kill.

Be Persistent and Patient – Nothing Comes Easily

As I’ve mentioned above, we watched the lions for hours before they finally made a kill. There was a lot of stalking, chasing, running, fighting, etc, as the lions wrestled with the buffaloes.

At times, the lions had to regroup and re-strategize.

This is a great lesson of persistence and patience. By the time the lions got their prey, they had shed blood, sweat, and tears.

If you want to achieve your goals, practice the art of patience and persistence. Nothing in this world comes easily.

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

One amazing thing I noticed as I watched the lions try to make a kill was that they kept their eyes on the prize.

There were about 20 buffaloes, but they only targeted one. Even when their targeted buffalo tried to flee, the lions didn’t decide to pursue another buffalo. They pursued their target until they finally succeeded.

This is an amazing lesson for you. Keep your eyes on the prize like the lions do. I urge you to avoid moving the goalposts.

Suppose you fix your eyes on whatever you want to achieve. In that case, you’ll surely accomplish your goals.

Always Protect and Safeguard Your Territory From Intruders

As I mentioned earlier, lions live together in prides. Interestingly, they can stay in the same place for ages. Oh, and they don’t allow intruders into their territory. They protect and guard their territories fiercely.

For instance, female lions keep away other females from their territories. In addition, the male lions protect the pride from invasions.

This could be a valuable lesson for you. Always safeguard and protect jealously what is precious to you. This could be your relationships, family, home, job, friends, etc.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Try To Make Lemonade

I learned from our tour guide that lions are some of the most adaptable animals. They can survive in grasslands, savannas, and even hot places like the Kalahari Desert. They can even derive water from plants for survival if need be.

This is a great life lesson for you. When life gives you lemons, try to make lemonade. Always try to have a can-do attitude, positivity, and optimism when you face misfortune, failure, or adversity.

In other words, try to adapt to different life circumstances like the lions. When you do so, you’ll survive life challenges and eventually thrive again.

Always Practice Personal Hygiene

During the game drives, I could not have had enough of watching lions cleaning themselves or cleaning each other. It was mesmerizing.

You see, lions behave like house cats – they are very concerned about cleanliness. They love cleaning themselves to remove any stench from their bodies. They mainly use their tongues to clean themselves.

They also clean each other after eating their kill. They do so to remove any blood stains on their bodies so that their coats are always clean.

This is another amazing life lesson you can learn from a lion. Always keep clean and smell fresh for your good and the good of others.

Always Create Time To Sleep and Rest

Lions work hard when hunting and when trying to survive in the jungle. Lions discovered long ago that if they want to thrive, they should get enough sleep and rest (pun intended).

They sleep and rest most of the day. They can do so for even 20 hours. As a result, they conserve energy for defending their pride and territory and hunting.

You too could emulate the lion. I’m not suggesting that you sleep and rest for 20 hours. No.

Work, but don’t forget to rest and sleep as this is part of self-care.

When you get adequate sleep and rest, your body relaxes, recharges, and re-energizes. You get the physical and mental strength to go on with your life.

Play Your Parental Role Properly

Are you a mother or father? You could borrow a leaf from the way lions play their parenting roles.

You see, lions have well-defined parental roles.

The role of the lionesses includes the following:

Nurturing their cubs: This includes suckling and weaning them.

Raising the cubs: They raise the cubs for approximately two years.

Providing food for the pride: The lionesses are the main hunters, thus providing food for their pride.

Teaching their cubs essential skills: The skills include stalking, pouncing, and hunting. The cubs can thus survive on their own when they come of age.

The roles of the male lions include the following:

To safeguard their pride from any dangers.

To protect their territory from invaders. They do so by chasing away animals encroaching on their turf, roaring menacingly to scare intruders, or marking their territory with urine.

To teach their cubs essential survival skills such as self-defense.

Suppose each parent played their parental role properly. In that case, your children will grow well and become independent and valuable members of society.

Never, Ever, Give Up

I think one of the greatest lessons you can learn from lions is never, ever give up.

You see, although the lion is the King of the Jungle, it faces numerous challenges.

For instance, they endure a lot of competition in the jungle. A good example is when they compete for food with other animals, such as cheetahs, tigers, and hyenas.

In the jungle, there are larger and stronger animals like buffaloes and elephants. The lion still hunts these large and strong animals. Sometimes they defeat the lion during the fight, but the lion never gives up.

Lions also endure harsh environments such as cold, heat, floods, or drought, but they quickly learn to adapt.

They are also endangered by human-wild-life conflict or poachers.

Lions sometimes fail miserably when hunting – they fail to catch their prey. As if that’s not enough, they get hurt and wounded as they hunt some of the prey.

Despite all the challenges, lions never give up. They try again and again until they succeed.

This is a great life lesson for you. Never, ever give up. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. You’ll conquer and get your reward if you don’t give up.

Conclusion

I hope these life lessons about lions will be of help to you. The King of the Jungle is indeed a great animal to emulate.

Kindly share your thoughts about this post in the comments section below. Cheers!

Also read: How To Be A True Friend – Make Friendships That Last A Lifetime.