Gardening And Life... When The Roots Grow Wild

Last week in between writing for several different clients, my husband and I set to work moving the day lillies.

What should have been a twenty minute job turned into a 2 day project. The lillies had been in the same spot for more than 2 years... slowly growing the largest root system I'd ever seen... spreading rich and thick ...and, unfortunately, mired in chokeweed grass.

The poor things were slowly getting the very life choked out of them.

You see, I'd been so busy the past 2 years building my business, there had been little time to take care of things like weeding the garden and nurturing my plants giving them room to grow.

Life can be a lot like that. You can get so buried in the details you forget to give yourself room to grow and flourish ...and sometimes, the wrong elements can move in to slowly suffocate your hopes, dreams and what you once thought was the lifestyle you always wanted.

Don't get me wrong --- when you really apply yourself in the right situation, you can work super hard for a two year period and the results can be phenomenal --- giving you a lifestyle even more wonderful than you'd ever hoped or dreamed for.

I've been lucky. This is exactly how my life is shaping up.

My next goal is to take my monthly income to the 20k/month level and I'm right on target to do it. I'm also working less, yet earning more.

A friend of mine has not been so lucky.

She buried herself in the wrong situation, determined to be the best in her field working in a major corporation, climbing the ladder hoping to shorten the distance from entry level to the top of the feedchain in 5 years or less.

She dug in deep, immersed in the details, with stunning performance on the job.

The company just went through some major layoffs.

Did all her hard work and efforts pay off?

I bet you already know where this is heading... and if you guessed right, you know she is now dusting off her resume preparing for the unemployment line with a 2 week severance check in hand and a pat on the back thanking her for her accomplishments these past 4 years.

During those 4 years she worked 10 to 12 hour days, tirelessly, passionately building someone else's dreams. She never had time to add any courses to her schedule, so needless to say, on paper it looks like there was little advancement for her during that 4-year period.

What did she learn from the experience?

For one thing, she still hasn't learned to go to work on her own dreams. Instead, like I said... she's dusting off her resume and getting ready to go out and add to the success of yet another company.

I can empathize with her. There once was a time I would have done the same...

It took me more than 20 years to "wake up" and take time to smell the roses.

My Advice: work harder on yourself than you do on your job. It will take you a whole lot further faster.

PS: the transplanting turned out great. The lillies are now flourishing in their new location and it looks like this year my flower gardens will be truly beautiful!