The argument for growing your work slowly

I occasionally meet people who want to manifest businesses with the snap of a finger. They feel they should be able to go from zero to 100 within a few days. They’re smart and connected and have important gifts to share, so why not? Why can’t they just be successful already?

We live in a world where overnight success is greatly admired. It’s all about ACHIEVEMENT. We adore the 15-year old sensation and pity older people who have ‘lost their prime.’

But think of a great oak tree. It’s magnificent precisely because it grew slowly over time. Not because it sprung up overnight.

I’ve had my own frustrations. I painfully think about how I’ve spent nearly the last 15 years of my life working on something and I haven’t seen the fruits of it yet. My coach tells me to think of Van Gogh, who didn’t realize success in his lifetime.

Pardon me for the arrogance in even making the comparison. But still, I don’t want to be Van Gogh.

Here’s what I’m finally beginning to grasp: my love is the only thing that ultimately matters.

We each find our thing in life that we love, and we love it. And as we love what we love, our love creates rich soil. What we’ve grown does what it does and goes where it goes. We have no control over that.

But our love matters. And once we’re in the love, there’s nowhere else to go.