Small Beginnings

A conversation this week reminded me of an important principle as we walk into our dreams. 

We are responsible for what we have been given in life, and what we do with it, not for how much we have been given. 

An ancient story tells about three servants who were each given different resources to manage. Two of the servants invested their resources and had results to show their master when he returned. The third servant was afraid and hid the resources so they would not be lost. When the master returned he praised the first two servants and gave them even more to manage. The third servant was dismissed and the resources he had were taken away.

One of the blogs that I follow puts this challenge differently. Todd Henry, the author of The Accidental Creative blog and several books on creativity, challenges his readers to act on what they have been given and 'die empty' rather than taking their ideas and contributions to the grave, unrealized.

So what have you been given in life? And what have you done with it? During all the changing circumstances of your life, this question remains so you may as well face it now. 

It is tempting to look at other's successes and conclude that they were given more to work with. That may or may not be true, but their view looking forward at their dream was probably not much different than you looking forward at yours. They had to take small steps against the odds and persevere while their dream grew without knowing what it would become. The success you see may have been the second or third idea that they acted on, while earlier ideas did not work out the way they had planned. 

When walking into your dreams, it is important to not despise small beginnings. If we disqualified people and organizations that started with small beginnings, much of what we see and value would not have been accomplished.

How it all started for Starbucks...

Looking back, I see situations where I pursued a dream, like becoming a biologist, and a small beginning grew into something much bigger. I can also see a lot of situations where I did nothing with opportunities and they ended up being taken away. Rather than getting lost now in what might have been, we need to remind ourselves that there is always the opportunity for another small beginning by paying attention to what we have been given and acting on it. 

Understanding Change: Roots and Fruit

This week I want to continue in the theme of understanding change. Since effective change is an important part of moving into our dreams, it is important to look for insight from different angles. 

Another way of looking at change draws on ancient teachings about the origin of fruit in our lives. It links the fruit we produce to the type of roots we have.  

"Each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush."

So what do we mean when we talk about fruit and roots?

The fruit of our life is what we produce in the different seasons of our life. You could call it results or productivity. 

Fruit is highly visible. 

It is what we admire in others accomplishments. It is usually what we want to create more of as we move into our dreams. 

In contrast, the roots of our life are what anchor us and what we draw from. 

Roots are more stable than fruit. They may also be less visible than fruit, like character or core values.  

We often overlook roots in the pursuit of our dreams. 

As we move into our dreams, it is tempting to focus our efforts on the fruit we want to produce. But the roots of our life ultimately define the fruit from our life. If we want to change the fruit, then we need to deal with our roots.

So what is at the root of your life? Here is how I answer that question...whatever I feed myself on when things are not going well, is my root.  

If I feed myself on passivity or procrastination, 

it should be no surprise that fruit does not form or grow. 

If I resort to excuses, 

then my fruit will be inconsistent. 

If I choose to escape, 

I will only deceive myself about the fruit I am producing. 

But if I draw on my higher purpose, 

I can expect to produce fruit that will be greater than the resources at hand.

If I am nourished by my vision and core values, 

then fruit that is authentic and satisfying will result.

Remember, whatever you feed yourself on when you are under pressure will define you.  By paying attention to your roots first, you will prepare the conditions for producing fruit as you move into your dreams. 

Understanding Change

As we enter a new year, it is natural to look forward to the things that we want to start and that we want to change.  The first few weeks of January are busy times as people pursue lifestyle changes, start businesses and launch into their dreams. 

But change is hard and it often fails. Structures below the surface can affect the circumstances that we want to change without us even being aware of them. 

Systems thinking uses a model of an iceberg to illustrate deeper principles behind change. At the top of the iceberg are events - the things we can observe, the things we react to. Most of the time we focus on these. For me, an example of an event is not taking initiative, like when I don't get back to people who are counting on me to make a decision. 

But there is a lot more to an iceberg than the part that is above the water. Below events are patterns - what has happened in the past, the places we have been before. Something happening once is different than something happening over and over again. It would be easy for me to blame my lack of initiative on someone or something else, but the truth is that it is a pattern that occurs over and over again in different circumstances with different people. Ouch!

Below patterns are structures - the forces that shape and drive the patterns. Structures may not be readily apparent from the events and patterns that you observe. They may be related to experiences that happened a long time ago or even things that you have forgotten. Some of the structures behind my pattern of not taking initiative are from not wanting to miss out on a better alternative, or not knowing what to do and avoiding risk by choosing to do nothing - both based on a motive of looking out for myself. 

Finally, below structures are mental models - the patterns of thinking that allow structures, patterns and events to continue. An ancient teaching says 'as a man thinks in his heart, so is he'. By looking at the iceberg illustration you can see why this is. The deepest and most resistant part of people and organizations is the way we think. If we want to change deep things we need to expose and challenge the assumptions behind our thinking. This is extremely difficult to do yourself and you may need to involve somebody who is willing to be honest with you. I am not sure yet about the thinking behind my lack of initiative - it may come from a belief that l will always be wrong and the best course of action is to withdraw. Now there is some thinking that will hold me back in the pursuit of my dream. 

As you look forward to a new year and new opportunities, I encourage you to take some time for reflection. You may uncover some things that you didn't want to see, but these may be the key to the change that is needed to walk into your dream.