How to Grow Where You Are Planted (2)

Welcome to part 2 of this article. Let me begin by asking you a question: how long are you willing to remain planted on your chosen soil? Your answer to this question determines the extent of your growth or retardation.

Perennial plants like the oaks, the irokos, the mahoganies, the cocoas, the palm trees, etc are planted for the long haul. You need to realize that to achieve great success in life, you must be in for the long haul.

One reason many businesses remain very little or die off is not really because there are no prospects in such businesses. There are prospects of course. After all, there are people making lots of fortune from the businesses. I think one reason for business failure is our inability to focus on the long haul.

Many people are after what they can do to succeed overnight. If they can’t find instant success in a particular field, they would uproot themselves and seek another field to plant themselves and grow into maturity overnight.

The keep on uprooting themselves and planting themselves and in the end, they never plant themselves long enough to take root and grow.

Like the tree, when you keep uprooting yourself from one soil to another, you deprive yourself of the opportunity to grow. The length of time the roots remain in the soil matters because until the roots spread and become firmly established, no growth can actually take place and it takes time for the roots to spread and be firmly established on the soil.

TO ACHIEVE LONG LASTING SUCCESS, YOU MUST PLANT YOURSELF FOR THE LONG HAUL. People who focus on the short term or who want instant success cannot go far in life. This is because if things don’t work out as fast as they expect, they would be discouraged. They would start questioning themselves whether they have actually planted themselves on the soil that is suitable for them. In the end, they would uproot themselves from the suitable soil and start looking for soil that would earn them instant success.

There is nothing like instant success. TRUE SUCCESS IS NOT INSTANT. TRUE SUCCESS TAKES LONGER TIME THAN YOU EXPECT. For this reason, you must stop focusing on the short term (instant success) and prepare your mind for the long haul.

Most successful farmers are farmers who focus on the long haul. Such farmers go for crops that they can plant once, which will continue to deliver value even long after they have died. Farmers that are focused on the long haul plant such perennial crops as cocoa, palm tree, coffee, cashew, etc.

Now, this is not to say that farmers who focus on short term crops are not successful. Many short term-crops farmers are also into crop planting for the long haul. Year in year out, they are busy with their farm work and because they continue with their job, they get firmly rooted and established.

THE KEY TO LASTING SUCCESS IS HAVING A STRONG BASE. HAVING A STRONG BASE IMPLIES STAYING PLANTED IN YOUR FIELD FOR THE LONG HAUL. You have to decide how long you wish to remain relevant in your field.

Do you know that one reason many companies are successful is because they have been in business for a long time?

Under Nigerian law, every company duly incorporated is required to publish in her annual report her five year financial summary. I think this requirement is meant to put the companies in the mood that they are in business for the long haul and that they should not think of shutting down their factories.

If companies are in business for a long time, they would thrive. And if companies are thriving, the economy would thrive and government would benefit greatly by way of taxation.

Like companies, you need to realize that you are in your field of specialization for the long haul. The implication of this is that you must plan ahead. You must plan to remain in your business for five years and more. You must have a detailed plan of where you want to take your business, profession, project or trade to in the next five years.

Staying in your field for five years and more requires patience because the first few years of your starting will not be rosy. Customers/clients will not start coming yet. It takes time for them to know you and the business you do.

You also have to go round and do some constant marketing. So you see, all these take time. For these reasons, you have to give yourself five or more years to grow roots, spread roots and be firmly established. It is only then that you will begin to grow into greatness.

Until I come your way soon, go and plant yourself on your chosen soil for your growth into greatness!

NB: Part 3 of this article will come your way soon. Watch out for this article. You can’t afford to miss it!