Have you ever wondered what truly drives extraordinary growth and success? It's not a secret formula or a stroke of luck—it's the power of daily discipline. Like a bamboo farmer who waters the seed diligently without seeing immediate results, consistent, everyday actions lead to remarkable transformations.
In this crazy world where everything moves at a million miles a minute, patience isn't just a good thing—it's a must! Modern conveniences and technology have shortened our ability to be patient, creating a "microwave mentality" that leaves us craving overnight success. But true growth, like a bamboo shoot, requires time and nurturing.
In 1939, there was a student by the name of George Dantzig running late for a statistics class at Cal Berkeley. He was about 20 minutes late and slipped into class unnoticed. He saw there were some problems on the board, so he wrote them down, assuming it was homework, then he continued to listen to the lecture. When he got home, he realized the homework problems were pretty challenging. Nevertheless, he took a few days and finished the problems and turned them in to his professor.
When you’re watering your bamboo in your career and life, it’s a good idea to simplify, otherwise you’ll have no energy left for watering your Bamboo. Think of it as weeding the Bamboo Garden. You don’t want weeds because they will take all the nutrients your bamboo needs to grow. If you feel overworked and overcommitted, you won’t have the energy and desire to accomplish your goals, so you must simplify.
We all have an inner dialogue, and for many of us, it’s continually spewing negative thoughts. Your inner dialogue wants you to find the issues and problems in everything. Our brains have a negativity bias. For thousands of years, humans have been scanning the world for danger, and it’s wired into us as human beings.
I believe you should use most of your time and energy focusing on your strengths. However, leaders must reserve some time to improve their weaknesses.
The first step in any improvement is awareness. It is difficult, if not impossible, to improve weaknesses if you are not aware of it. Seeing yourself in action or paying close attention can help you identify your weaknesses. Getting honest feedback from those you respect is a gift, so receive feedback with an open mind. However, if you receive a singular piece of feedback from someone, verify it with others as well since feedback is subjective.
Now that your NCAA Final Four Bracket is busted – thank you University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers! – we can start talking baseball. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the lessons that can be found in baseball. I was not much of a baseball player growing up, but I did make the thirteen-year-old "All Star" Babe Ruth team (I didn’t make it because of skill – there were barely enough 13-year olds in my region to field a team).
We all have the ability to devise innovative, world-changing ideas. But without the right place in which to develop and nurture these ideas, they remain nothing more than a far-off dream. If you want to bring your team's most innovative ideas to life, follow these 7 actionable tips for creating an inspiring and encouraging team environment.
Now that the hype has died down, the Olympics (and Paralympics) seem like a distant memory. Imagine making the medal podium and a few weeks later hardly anyone remembers your name. Was the 15 minutes of fame worth it? Most Olympians have trained from a very young age to reach that pinnacle in their sport — talk about Watering The Bamboo!
When a person or a team sets a goal to do something extraordinary (aka your Bamboo Dream), whether that goal is to go to the moon, win a gold medal, or change an entire industry, critics, killjoys, and naysayers come out of the woodwork saying things such as: You are crazy. That will never work. Why are you wasting your time? What makes you think you are so special?
How many bricks does it take to complete a patio? The same amount it takes to start building a patio. Answer: ONE! This is the approach I took when I wrote my book Water The Bamboo — "one page at a time" — besides, you can only water one bucket at a time. You must focus on one brick at a time to finish. However, if you are like most people, you start more patios than you finish. I think it's okay to not finish from time to time but one should address this if it becomes a pattern.
