Picture this: You find yourself mindlessly munching on a bag of sunflower seeds. Before you know it, you’ve eaten 200 of them.
Those 200 sunflower seeds could have turned into 20,000 in just a few months if you had planted them instead.
This analogy illustrates the power of investing in the future.
I am thinking about the tough in-the-moment choices I have to make to invest in my long-term growth. This is often uncomfortable, even if it’s obvious.
I say no to short-term pleasures to say yes to my ideal future. Not my ideal “now.” This means being intentional with my time and energy.
Especially now. My day job is busy, and my freelance marketing and writing hustle is growing. I am making sure that my actions align with my values and aspirations.
It’s easy to be caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of the big picture. Worse than that is to be caught up in the day-to-day, aware of the big picture, but missing the follow-through.
Day after day, of focusing on the sunflower seeds in front of us, instead of planting them and nurturing them to grow into something more significant.
I want to achieve my goals and positively impact the most important people in my world.
The uncomfortable choices are the most obvious. Give up the instant gratification of eating sunflower seeds now to plant them and wait for them to grow later. The rewards of delayed gratification are much more significant. Sacrifice in the short term reaps much greater rewards in the long term.
Again – the uncomfortable choices are apparent. Are we following through on the obvious?
So, rhetorically, I’m asking you because I’m asking myself, Who are you saying no to, and who are you saying yes to when it comes to the time you want to invest in your ideal future?
I won’t be afraid to make uncomfortable choices and invest in the future. The seeds I plant today can grow into something extraordinary tomorrow.
Yoda said, Do. Or do not. There is no try.