Just like the calendar, life has seasons. During the month of October, for example, the calendar tells us we are in the season of harvest, when a bounty of crops are gathered before the oncoming frost of winter. However, the timing of when those seedlings were planted is just as important to consider.
As in life and our professional endeavors, timing can make all the difference. We don’t reap the harvest the day that we plan out the garden. We don’t enjoy the fruits of our labor the day we plant the seeds. After days, weeks, and months of tending our little plot of land, only then can we expect any kind of payoff, and even then, only if conditions are just right.
Plan the Garden
In any line of work, having a plan is crucial. Even planting a garden requires a plan. Is there full sunlight? What about access to enough water? How fertile is the soil? Having all these elements in place before planting is just as important as the planting itself because without them, the effort will just be wasted when nothing is able to grow.
Creating the environment necessary for business growth can be half the battle. We have to look to the future to see our goals, then work backwards. These goals can be reaching broader audiences, offering new services, gaining more clients, or achieving a certain financial milestone. The goals may be varied, but the plan always comes first.
Sow the Seeds
Once our plan is set, we can consider our existing resources, then strategize on how to fill in the gaps of what may be missing. Now is the time to consider what our businesses will require in the coming months, and particularly in the new year, to reach these new heights. What changes do we want to make? What results are we working for? Who can help us in the areas where we lack the necessary expertise? These questions are the little seedlings that will allow our garden to truly flourish.
Not everyone has land to grow their own garden. Renting a plot at a community garden might be the solution. Seeking a helping hand from outside resources can make all the difference and increase our harvest exponentially. If someone is willing to work with us and get their hands a little dirty too, the fruits of that extra labor will be twice as sweet.
Garden metaphors aside, no person or business can always be in the harvest stage of life. Indeed, the harvest tends to be the shortest season in the cycle. It’s everything that comes before that really matters. That’s where the real work takes place and where all possibilities first take root.
Our professional pursuits take time to come to fruition, but the feeling of fulfillment can be immediate, as long as we know we are putting in the work that will benefit us later. The process can’t be rushed, but it can be strategized, and when it comes to the tools required to grow a beautiful garden, Noteworthy Communications can be one of many. Let’s prepare for the harvest together and usher in a new season of achievement and growth.
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