One of the hardest things to learn in life is patience. Sometimes we do not let the fruits of our labor come to fruition due to our impatience, we get frustrated and quit. The phrase "patience is a virtue" is so simple but carries so much truth. On our path to financial success if we could be more patient with ourselves, our investments, our positions in life, our businesses etc. we could be so much more successful. Our success could be measured in terms of exponential growth and success instead of multiplicative growth.
With every thing we take on in life its like planting a seed. In order for this seed to thrive we need to have some of the right resources fertile soil, water, light, air, and time. Often time we plant the seed in the ground and begin yelling "GROW". We often get caught up in the what we can see, and not the growth that is actually taking place. I have done this myself.
We end up giving up on the seed of our dreams because we get frustrated. The dream itself didn't die but since we didn't go out and pull the weeds, water, and fertilize, it couldn't reach its full potential. When we are young we have dreams that are as vast or vaster than the universe itself. It's not that we can't achieve those dreams we just don't let the root system develop to support the dream before we give up. We give up on to many of our dreams before they have a chance to sustain themselves. If you are reading this I want you to know that you can far exceed the expectations you set for yourself. I cannot tell you what your goals are but develop your goals and stay faithful to them.
To tie this back to financial success lets look at what it takes to build a large fortune. We can relate this back to the seed idea. The seed is your initial investment this initial investment can grow to the size of a blade of grass in a field or under the right conditions it can grow to be the tallest tree in the forest bigger than the great redwood trees. First you have to make the decision to plant the seed, and if you have planted the seed you have made it past one of the biggest barriers to being financial successful. The plant can fertilize itself through dividends and/or interest. The fertilizer is more money added, and proper use of other financial tools to protect and grow your financial tree. Some of these tools include insurance, diversity, and depending on the whether your sophistication you could use tools like options. The most important part of growing your money tree is patience as it grows its roots so that it can prosper. Time is one of the other variables that determines the size of any tree, and this is where your patience comes in. Instead of pulling fruit from your tree to early allow the tree to continue fertilizing itself. So that one day when you look out your window in the morning after waking up you can see your tree is there providing shade to you and your family, and will continue to provide shade and fruit to your decedents for years to come.
In closing I would like to remind you to not give up on your dreams or yourself, and leave you with the story of the bamboo tree told by Zig Ziglar.
The Chinese Bamboo Tree
It seems that this tree when planted, watered, and nurtured for an entire growing season doesn’t outwardly grow as much as an inch. Then, after the second growing season, a season in which the farmer takes extra care to water, fertilize and care for the bamboo tree, the tree still hasn’t sprouted. So it goes as the sun rises and sets for four solid years. The farmer and his wife have nothing tangible to show for all of their labor trying to grow the tree. Then, along comes year five.
In the fifth year that Chinese bamboo tree seed finally sprouts and the bamboo tree grows up to eighty feet in just one growing season! Or so it seems….
Did the little tree lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth? Or, was the little tree growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond? The answer is, of course, obvious. Had the tree not developed a strong unseen foundation it could not have sustained its life as it grew. The same principle is true for people. People, who patiently toil towards worthwhile dreams and goals, building strong character while overcoming adversity and challenge, grow the strong internal foundation to handle success, while get-rich- quickers and lottery winners usually are unable to sustain unearned sudden wealth.
Had the Chinese bamboo farmer dug up his little seed every year to see if it was growing, he would have stunted the tree’s growth.
