Planting Seeds & Cultivating Patience
Things take time to grow, do your expectations take that into account?
As creatives and business owners, we're often planting seeds.
Something we do today will bear fruit later.
These seeds could be anything, from a:
new idea we're trying out
relationship we're building
task on our to-do list
The thing with seeds is that they aren't all viable.
And growing conditions matter.
Everything from soil, water, temperature, timing, and experience.
You might plant a seed but the conditions aren't right for it to grow today.
Once things change, it might push through and turn into an amazing plant.
It could be that the market isn’t ready for what you have. Or you’re not talking about it in a way that invites people in.
Once you figure out the right wording and market, things start to click.
But just because some seeds don't sprout, doesn't mean you shouldn't be planting.
The more you plant, the higher your chances of success.
Still, it takes some tending to, so you don't want to plant so much that you can't take care of what comes up.
How long it takes for seeds to bear fruit
A rule of thumb is to expect to wait 90 days before you start to see results from an action you took in your business.
In seed analogy terms, that means 90 days to germination, not 90 days to get a full harvest.
Some things might be faster, and others might be slow growers and take years to mature.
One thing annoys us as business owners: not seeing momentum.
When you put a seed in the ground, you can’t see what’s happening in the soil.
If a seed is taking a while to sprout, you can't dig it up to check if it's putting down roots and getting ready to grow or not.
The same goes for business.
You might be tempted to rush things along, but that might make them less viable.
Just like you can't rush a relationship along, whether it’s a client, partner, or friend, you can't rush ideas to produce results, either.
It's a reality of business and life: things take as long as they take.
But you can test different conditions.
Water more, water less, add a little compost, and bring in more light.
Do you feel like time is on your side?
If you’ve planted some seeds and seen them grow over time… does that help you feel more at ease the next time?
What seeds are you planting right now?
Next week I’ll be talking about the paradox of time: how it feels like it’s speeding up but also crawling slowly.
Listen in
If you want to hear my behind-the-scenes decision-making process, you’ll love this interview I did with Joe Casabona on his podcast:
About Nathalie & The Momentum Memo
Nathalie Lussier is the founder of AccessAlly, a WordPress LMS plugin company for course creators, membership site owners, and community builders who want to scale on their terms.
In The Momentum Memo and Off The Charts podcast she shares her journey of running a tech business, being a regenerative farmer, and raising young kids.
Thanks so much for the mention! Loved this conversation!
When I am working on a big project that feels insurmountable, I zoom out and remind myself that tiny actions can lead to big changes. I have become wiser over the years, allowing more time to let things grow and ripen. It always feels more rewarding this way than going down the rabbit hole of "quick success hacks". Thank you for this post, I really enjoyed it!