We naturally want to avoid the challenges of planning, planting, and cultivating something new. We prefer to enjoy a bountiful harvest after we have worked hard to create something—a relationship, a career, or a project. If we have invested greatly in what is already becoming old and will inevitably fade away, we will resist the process of imagining what else could be brought into being.
As a businessman, I’ve enjoyed successes and many harvest times. But I have also had to cut back my operations here and there. I had to plan something new. Fear that I didn’t know what to do, that I might make a mistake, tempted me to look back, but I knew I had to look forward. Paradoxically, being forced to do things with fewer people and resources often led to new ways of doing things. Those changes, in turn, led to insights into even more efficient and effective methods for getting things done. I have learned that there can be unseen options, so it is important not to resist a downturn in a cycle. A harvest cannot occur unless we have planned and planted. A downturn in a business cycle is an opportunity to observe, assess, ponder, and plan. It is a time to imagine.
Just as there are natural rhythms to business, there are natural rhythms to life. Sometimes, you have to stop, observe, assess, ponder, and begin to plan what else you might create. When you feel blocked and unable to move forward, and none of your efforts seem to be paying off, trying harder may not be the best choice.
Is there an area of your life that is not working any longer? Do you need to establish new habits, and plant something new? What would you like to create if you could generate something else entirely? If you had all the resources you needed, what would you bring into being?
Circumstances change. Unexamined habits can linger and hold us back from planting something new—and enjoying a new harvest. Are you anxiously rushing to regain what was lost and fix what was broken?
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