Growing up, I had to go to the farm now and then. I remember at the age of six, I went to the farm with my dad. He showed me how to sow the seed. We dug some holes and we planted the seed. As we were burying the seed into the ground, into darkness, into the cold, dusty, and unfriendly environment, I wondered how this seed is ever going to grow. With my young mind, I went there the following day expecting to find the seed blooming into a stem, there was nothing. I went there for the third day still nothing. It took two weeks before we could see anything out of the ground. The maize seed turned into deep colorful green seedlings. After two weeks, we weeded the farm after six months we harvested the produce and we enjoyed the food. I felt proud of eating the food that I planted.
As I reflect on this I am reminded of the fact that for the seed to grow, it had to go through some unpleasant situation, dark, dusty and detached environment before it grows.
Several conditions must be fulfilled before a seed germinates, I will talk about three for this case 1. Viability 2. Water 3 Conducive environment (soil)
While I indicated above that, the soil is dusty, dark and detached that is exactly the best environment for the seed to collect the right amount of water required, the oxygen and the temperature for it to grow.
As human beings, for us to develop professionally, personally, financially, spiritually, socially we also need to expose ourselves to the right environment. On surface value, the environment may not look good, the environment may not be comfortable and the environment may not be what you and I are used to, however, that this what it takes.
To grow you need:
- Viability.
If you sow your seed and, you have water, oxygen, the right temperature and a conducive environment the seed will grow. Right? Wrong– If the seed is dead; if the seed cannot germinate, everything else becomes useless. I compare the seed viability with your mindset. If you do not have the right mindset then the environment, the resources available to you, the people that are available to help you will not be of use. It is therefore important that you maintain the right mindset regardless of the circumstances that are around you or within you. Growing up as a Masai, we believed that our language was spoken all over the world and anyone who is not part of our community is not complete. We are a typically patrilineal community
- Water
Seeds are normally covered with the hard seed coat. This shell is meant to protect the seed. Much as the coat is important, this then becomes a significant barrier for the seed to grow. Water will; therefore, help the seed coat to become soft and therefore allowing the germination to grow. Continuous learning is like the water that the seed need for it to germinate. All of us have the hard-wired beliefs, values, and practices that were built within us to protect us from danger. You know the phrase “Don’t talk to strangers”, “Don’t go into other people’s houses”, “do not beg, etc. This up bring has taught us to build a wall to protect ourselves from strangers, While these are important things to do as a child when you grow up, they may not be as important. For example in the public speaking space, talking to strangers is the biggest opportunity that you can have. Like the seed, we need to allow that water to soak into our hard skin, soften us so that we can allow new ideas and other people to interact with us. You can only do this by learning and exposing yourself to new knowledge and different ways of doing things. Learn from other cultures, learn a new language, and learn new subjects that may not be in your mainstream job and you will be surprised how your seed germinates into new possibilities and opportunities. Doors will start opening and people will seeking advice for you. They will also offer themselves to help you because you would have made yourself vulnerable.
Brendon Burchard, one of my mentors says he has trained more than two million people, these are all strangers. When, I engaged with him in one of his seminars he mentioned that he has been able to do that because he exposed himself to continue learning, researching and studying different subjects from psychology to high performance.
Therefore, if we continue practicing something that we were told to do when we were young we create a barricade that will prevent you from achieving your dream. You, therefore, need to change your mindset and adopt the fact that talking to strangers is a habit that you need to learn and embrace.
Conducive environment
The conducive environment for this matter is the type of people that you surround yourself with, the books that you read, the information that you allow into your mind. This is like the oxygen the temperature and they will determine the rate of growth of your seed in your day-to-day engagements. When I started my career, I was timid, shy and introverted. After working form more than 20 years, I realized that I need to speak up; I need to learn how to communicate effectively. When I made the decision, I was, then, living in Tunisia. I sought teachers who will assist me with public speaking training but could not get one, I tried joining Toastmasters but there were no clubs. When I moved to Kenya in January 2014, I immediately enrolled for a public speaking course and later on Toastmasters. I also joined Rotary and several other networks that motivated me to practice public speaking.
For you to develop and grow to a new level you need to maintain the right mindset, which will allow you seed to germinate into the person you, want to become. You need to continue to work on yourself by developing the skills that you need to grow into a baobab tree that you are meant to be. You need to surround yourself with the right tribe that will grow and be with you as you reach new horizons Click here to learn more
