Think Like a Plant
The key is to be a plant.
You can build any size building if you lay ten bricks a day for a long enough time. It's really easy to get lost in the idea of instant gratification, and it's even easier to lose sight of the benefits of consistently putting in work. Whether it's a guilty meal, a drug, or an impulsive purchase we always find it easier to sacrifice our longterm comfortability for short term joy. This idea is in everyone's head, some more than others, but we all need to practice recognizing the value of longer term projects and ignoring the allure of quick pleasure. It's easier said than done of course, I still get a Reese's peanut butter cup every time I go to a convenience store and I ALWAYS snooze my alarm at least once in the morning. But there are things that you can do to teach your brain to recognize the value of a potentially gratifying long term activity. Eventually your brain will release serotonin and reward you just for making progress towards a goal because it understands the results that will come. By practicing long term gratification on a smaller scale you can use what you've learned to achieve any big long term goal.
Everybody is different, but I have two small-scale methods that helped me in the last few years in recognizing the value of progress and not just the result. One of them, as simple as it sounds, is gardening. When you plant a plant you can be entirely certain that you will never see it grow, it will never interact with you, and if you miss just a few days of care it will be gone forever. Yet if you stick with it and keep taking care of it, you'll eventually look back at an old photo and realize that it's doubled in size and completely changed color over the last year. Some trees will continue to grow for over five years before ever rewarding you with a fruit, but if you make it that far then you can count on a bounty every year for the rest of your life. No one will ever look at sequoia and think it got there in a day, but if you told an alien that watering a seed consistently for a hundred years will lead to a hundred foot tall towering wooden structure they would think you're insane.
My other way of tricking my brain is with exercise. Much like planting a plant, no person has ever seen results from one hard day in the gym. Spending twelve hours a day working out for a week will never compare to an hour a day for a few months. Consistency will always be better than intensity, and will help you build a better mental foundation for yourself. So every time you work out, as you're sweating and suffering and wondering why you came there in the first place, all you can count on is the understanding that one day in the future you'll have the results you're looking for. Every time you struggle like that you're hardening yourself to said struggles, and reinforcing your trust in your own judgement.
The more trust and confidence you have in yourself, the more you can achieve in life.
Hey Hen, great post! I have never heard of the analogy of comparing us to plants. I guess in some ways we should be more like plants. I like how you say over the course of 5 years there will be a reward. I feel like a lot of people are too impatient and then they would just self destruct because the reward is not coming fast enough. Plants are patient they do not self destruct. I also really like how you compare to working out! A lot of my blogs are about fitness. I agree with you, sometimes it is okay to wait and see, progress does not come fast in the gym, it takes time. I really like this self improvement blogs. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThink Like a Plant
ReplyDeleteHello Henri,
The analogy “think like a plant” has a far-reaching impact since it calls for consistency and results from something invisible or unforeseen. Your examples clearly illustrate the metaphor that man is supposed to continue working regardless of the unpredictable consequences. This takes me back to a financial class about savings, the same way we water a seed until it grows into a tree, then we can use the same criteria to make savings of the little we earn until it becomes a big building. That is to say, millions of money in the duration of, say, ten years. That as well calls for consistency and optimism. Generally, it is a worth reading post that needs critical thinking to relate to our lives.
Hey Hen,
ReplyDeleteI struggle when it comes to consistency and setting long term goals. I am always looking for quick results because it is so hard to have patience. It is important to wait because when you finally reach your goals it is so worth it. You really hit the nail on the head with this vlog, it was a hard truth that I keep avoiding. I never get to see my goals come to fruition because I have not learned to focus on the future.