“Four young men sit by the bedside of their dying father. The old man, with his last breath, tells them of a treasure buried in the family fields. The sons crowd around him, crying and asking, “Where, Where?” but it’s too late…
The day after the funeral and for many days to come, the young men go out into the fields with their picks and shovels and turn the soil, digging deeply into the ground from one end of each field to the other. They find nothing and, bitterly disappointed, abandon the search.
The next season, the farm has its best harvest ever.”
~ Story as told by Ben and Rosamund Zander in their book, The Art of Possibility
Exactly one year ago this week, I wrote a blog post titled “Doing the Work,” reminding all of us that the fruits of our labors will come, but we have to “till the soil.” We have to do the often hard and sometimes painful work that it takes to achieve our goals.
Last evening, like clockwork, I heard the farmer on the working farm next door, go to work on getting his soil ready for spring planting. Ironically, I had just had a “crucial conversation” with one of my coaching clients regarding her resistance and inactivity in doing her own work. She wondered why she wasn’t seeing her desired results.
Blame and excuses were sprinkled all around but she refused to take responsibility for her own poor results.
As I said last year, it’s hard to “do the work.” It takes effort, commitment, and an openness to change. But there is support and encouragement along the way. And remember that it’s also true that the “harvest” can be so rich.
So again, I challenge you to think about what you want to be different in your life. And then ask yourself: What effort am I willing to commit to “doing the work?” What digging do I need to do that will help me succeed at the goals and results that I long to achieve?
It’ spring. Time to prepare the soil. Time to do the work. The rewards are waiting for you.
To your success,
Mary
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