The clock reads midnight. How is that even possible? I have been working for nearly 17 hours straight fueled by caffeine. There were times during the day that I felt alive and the time flew by. There were times when I got discouraged and nearly stormed out the door.
I thought this was supposed to be easy, at least easier. Where are those promised results? When will this business take off?
Each of us work for different reasons, social acceptance, name recognition, out of financial necessity, because we’re told to, out of boredom, to pursue a dream, for success, happiness, and fulfillment. We work because it provides something we need.
But with every job there are days we love and days we despise. Even if you are lucky enough to work at the crossroads of your passion, your expertise and need fulfillment, you will still face struggles. You will still have obstacles to overcome. Because success is a journey, not a destination.
As a family, we just left Asia after 5 months traveling through the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Malaysia. It was incredible and we met some of the nicest people in the world. People with so little personal possessions but so willing to give. We learned so many lessons and started to clarify success.
Success is The Chinese Bamboo.
In Asia, because it is flexible, abundant and easy to work with, bamboo has become a valuable resource. Most homes we visited were built with bamboo walls and furniture, cooking utensils and place settings came from the tree and animals are fed with the leaves. The best nap you will ever experience is on a bamboo bench (trust me).
Some species of bamboo grow incredibly fast, it’s not uncommon to see three feet of growth in a single day. But, there is one type of bamboo that grows in a unique way. After planting, nothing happens. After one year, nothing. Years 2, 3, 4, nothing. But then, BOOM! In year five this Chinese Bamboo rockets 80 feet into the air, sometimes in as little as 45 days.
During the four years of “nothing”, was the tree just waiting trying to get motivated for its moment of growth?
We sometimes do this in setting SMART growth goals. We get a great new idea, get excited, think about it, read about it, do an internet search, think some more, tell friends, neighbors and strangers and then wait. Then we wait. It’s a good idea and we are mentally ready, but that isn’t enough.
The Chinese Bamboo Didn’t Just Wait For His Potential.
During the four years, when all appearances suggested it was dormant, it was creating a very complex and elaborate root structure. Intertwining and combining with the roots of neighboring trees the Chinese Bamboo was building a solid foundation to support its anticipated growth. Without this solid foundation, when its big break finally arrived, it would have fallen over; unable to support the great heights of its potential.
Your success is like the Chinese Bamboo. If you expect to experience break out growth you must spend the time necessary establishing a strong foundation. It takes years of watering, fertilizing and patient waiting before the growth we desire happens.
The 5 Secrets of Massive Personal Growth
- Determined persistence. If your goal is important and worthy of focus you must stay persistent. Growth never comes easy. The bamboo farmer had to stay committed to cultivating the tree, giving it the opportunity to develop. If he had given up during year three he would have missed the potential. Sometimes our moment of breakout success is just around the corner. After all the trials and obstacles are satisfied the foundation is ready.
- Patience- Our success timeline is often longer than we want it to be. We want it now, today.
As a society, our attention spans have dropped significantly and so has our ability to develop the foundation for growth. In a recent Microsoft study on attention, we now have shorter attention spans than a goldfish. Think about the last time you sat for the light to change green, or waited for the metro or stood in line at Starbucks. How long did it take before you checked your phone? The average office worker checks their email 30 times an hour (I just checked mine). We have become impatient. BTW, all these statistics are included in a 54-page report which I attempted to read but….
In addition to dropping attention spans caused by smartphones and internet connections, we have also become champions of insta-wealth and overnight success. We listen to podcasts to learn about the millions being made overnight. I just got an email from a guy making $17,947 a day, maybe you got the same email. We think, I can do that. Write a blog post, record a podcast and boom $17k a day.
What happens when you have a giant leap forward with no foundation? You fail (fall). Success, real success, is built solidly on a foundation that can support it.
- Plant right the first time- If the farmer would have dug up the Chinese Bamboo see after the first year and replanted it in another location it would have never reached its potential. The temptation as our impatience grows is to dig up our seeds and replant. I have been guilty of this starting four companies in the last eight years. After the initial excitement of a new endeavor wears off and we enter the messy middle we want to change course. We second guess our original plans and turn our attention to new opportunities. Hoping the change will lead to immediate growth and success. The trick is to plant right the first time; confident your preparations and decision are the appropriate.
- Small growth daily- The tortoise had it right when he exclaimed, “slow and steady win the race”.
The Slight Edge and The Compound Effect are two of my favorite books. Both focus on the idea that small and consistent steps made daily will result in exponential impact.
If you want to write novels, start with 1000 words a day. An author who consistently writes 1000 words a day will someday grow into a towering recognizable author. The typical general fiction book is around 80,000 words and 1000 words a day yields 365,000 words in a year. You just wrote four. It’s possible one might be good, or at least part of one. What if you did that four years (16 full length novels)? Then, in year five, you are noticed, an overnight success. Boom! 80 feet of growth.
How about real estate agents? Make five cold calls a day, average one appointment for every 50 calls and close one client every 10 appointments. This isn’t math class, it’s 3 new clients a year. How long did five calls take? Now imagine year five, between referrals and your fine-tuned cold calling you now have more business than you can possibly handle alone.
Small strategic steps every day in the right direction builds the foundation for explosive growth (tweet that)
- A close partner to secret four above (small daily growth) is consistency. Consistency builds habit and mental muscle memory; like the gym. I used to spend an hour at the gym every day religiously. But then, I missed a day, and then a week, which grew to a month. At that point, I finally made it back. I jumped right back in where I had previously left off. I did my work out and felt great. I was back- the habit was renewed. Or was it? The next day I couldn’t move. I justified a necessary day off to recover which stretched into a week and became a month. The cycle repeats. Consistent work and attention builds the strong foundation for growth.
Each of us has a Chinese Bamboo within us. The seeds are there and ready for explosive successful growth. But it is waiting on us. Are you committed to doing what it takes to establish the solid foundation? The Chinese Bamboo needs five years, we need determined persistence, patience, a firm proper planting with consistent small daily effort.
Your 80 feet of explosive growth is around the corner. Let it grow.
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