You reap what you sow.

Posted at January 17, 2009

Success Series

What kind of seeds are you planting in your life right now? Whether you realize it or not, you are a farmer. You are always planting and harvesting.  Every thing you do is a seed in the garden of life. You plant seeds both through your actions and inaction.  Just like clockwork these  seeds will germinate, grow and  come back to bless  or bite you. My friend, that clock is ticking.

I had the privilege of growing up on a little farm at the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. I have first hand experience in farming. We grew corn, beans, potatoes and pumpkins. During the planting season, just after tilling the land, we would go to the granary and get the preserved seeds for planting. The farm had a section for corn and a section for potatoes. We planted corn at the corn section and the potatoes at the potatoes section. During harvest we would harvest each type of crop from it’s designated section. Sounds simple right? How is it then that  in life we get tempted to try and harvest corn from the potatoes section? Why is it that we want to harvest success after planting seeds of failure?

Farmers have got to be the one group of people with absolutely practical faith. They work their butts off at  soil preparation, planting, cultivation and harvesting. They understand that you have to have the right kind of seed for each particular parcel of land. Then they take the seed and without any guarantee, bury it and leave it for months with the faith that the seed will germinate and grow. Then they diligently take out the weeds and take good care of the crop, waiting for the day of harvest.

As I said, you are a farmer, a farmer in the garden of life. If you desire success, you will need to prepare yourself for success, cultivate your environment and have faith that the seeds  you plant will germinate and grow. The purpose of this website is to inspire you to be the best you can be. You will only be at your best if you plant the right seeds in your life my friend. As if that is not enough, you will also have to apply the correct farming principles for you to have a bumper harvest.

Earlier this week, we talked about what success is all about. We even created a blueprint for helping us succeed. Today we look at how to plant the right seeds in each aspect of our lives. There is a verse in the bible that talks about this ( How could I resist sharing this!).

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a  man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7 KJV)

We shall look at the following areas of life:

1. Physical Health and Wellness
2. Work
3. Financial Freedom
4. Home & Family
5. Mental
6. Social & Relationships
7. Spiritual
8. Character
9. Contribution
10. Fun & Entertainment

1. Physical Health and Wellness

You need to take care of your physical body. What kind of seeds are you planting in this area of life? Are you smoking? If you are you probably know the kind of harvest to expect just by looking at the ministry of health warnings on your last packet of cigarettes.

Many of us ignore the area of health when all is well. Please pay special attention to how you treat your body. Excessive consumption of food and alcohol is planting the wrong seeds for your future health.

2. Work

Are you investing your time at the job that fulfills both your short term and long term goals? Are you just working at a dead end job that you hate? Are you working in the area of your calling? What are you doing to improve your career? Adding specialized knowledge in your chosen field would be a great seed to plant.

3. Financial Freedom

It is great to be financially free, we agree on that. But how about the kind of seeds you need to plant in order to harvest financial freedom? What is your financial plan? Do you have a monthly budget? Do you have a saving plan? Are you credit cards maxed out or are you just spending on your credit cards? Think about the long term effects of your current actions and inaction in the area of finances.

4. Home & Family

Charity begins at home. You need to plant the seeds of love, the seeds of trust and respect. Think of anything you can do as an investment for a happy family life. How about spending more time with your loved ones? How  about ringing that long lost relative just to say hello. Are you parents or children ok? How about caring about the welfare of your family members? Go an extra mile to enhance your home and family. That is a great seed to plant.

5. Mental - Positive Thinking, State of Mind, New Ideas, Clarity of Purpose etc

Are you planting seeds to boost your Self Confidence? Are you planting positive thoughts and affirmations in your mind? The fact that you are reading this website tells me you are interested in success. Are you building mental clarity on how you will achieve your goals? Visualizing your success is the twin sister of planting the seeds of success.

6. Social & Relationships

Are you the kind of friend who will wait for everyone to call you? Or are you the kind of friend who is always there for your friends in good and tough times? Invest in your social group. Help out those in need. If you are in a relationship, plant the seeds of understanding and patience in your relationship. Get out your notebook and think of all the seeds you can invest in your social life and your relationships with friends and loved ones.

7. Spiritual

Spiritual seeds: depending on your religion or faith, read your divine book and other literature. Familiarize yourself with what you believe. Take action towards spiritual nourishment.

8. Character - Integrity, Honor, Self Discipline, Courage etc

Your character is shaped over time by experiences and how you choose to interpret them.  Think of ways to improve your integrity and self discipline. Plant seeds that will bring out the best characteristics in your life in future.

9. Contribution

To be truly successful, you must move from the position of asking what the world owes you. Think of ways of giving to society, to your friends and to your family. You don’t have to solve an entire country’s problems, but you can volunteer your time to help out a friend in need, or a stranger.

10. Fun & Entertainment

Have fun while planting and have fun while harvesting. Prepare your mind to see the best in everything. Enjoy your life, you only live twice.


Summary

We did not even scratch the surface of the topic of planting the seeds of success. But hopefully, you have understood that there is need for you to plant the right kind of seeds, cultivate and weed the crop before you can harvest the fruits of success.

All the best in your success.

Series Navigation«What do you Focus on?What is Kaizen?»

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