Trust the process

Anything worthwhile will not happen overnight. Great things take time. There’s always a process that is involved, and with any process it requires you to have faith, patience, and to stay consistent with your efforts even at times when you don’t see the results.

A great example of this is the Chinese bamboo tree. I heard this story a few years ago, but I thought I’d share it with you. The Chinese bamboo tree is not your typical tree. Of course, when you plant it, it needs water, sunlight, and fertilization, but it’s growth process is different from other trees. It requires nurturing every day but a year after its planted, nothing happens. In fact, after the second, the third, and even the fourth year, the same effect takes place…nothing happens. It doesn’t grow. No visible results. No evidence of its life.

Can you imagine the feelings you’d have if you nurtured something for four years and you have nothing to show for it? Imagine the concern or even frustration you’d have after working day after day for four consecutive years when it seems as if you’re at the same place you were when you got started. You might think you’re wasting your time. You might think it’ll never grow. You might consider giving up on it…but you can’t give up. Because in the fifth year, after you’ve nurtured the seed for four years, it grows up to 90ft in a matter of five weeks. This is how the Chinese bamboo tree grows. This is the process that is required for it to flourish—but in all reality, it didn’t grow in just five weeks. It took five years of consistent efforts to stimulate the growth of the tree.

This story is so very similar to the process of success. Success may not happen the way you want it to happen, but if you stay persistent it eventually will happen.

I know many times when we first begin a new venture in life, there’s something that you’re striving for and you’re excited about it. You can see the vision, it’s clear and you plan how it's all going to happen. You calculate every step you’re going to take and choreograph every move you’re going to make, and then you step into it. After a while things don’t look the way you thought they’d look, it doesn’t always go as you planned, the results don’t always come as fast as you thought they would.

You get set back, and fall short, and it starts to look like things aren’t going to work. What many people do at this point is they get discouraged, abort their mission and giving up on what they started. Left disappointed and hopeless because their dream didn't work out. They put forth a great level of effort and become frustrated because they don’t see results.

What we have to remember is that success doesn't happen in a linear fashion. It’s going to take you on a journey. Achieving your goal won't always go as planned. There are ups and downs, sometimes you get pushed in this direction and get shifted in that direction, and what once was clear will sometimes become hard to see. Your faith get’s tested. Your belief in yourself is challenged….but this is all apart of the process.

The process is not just about getting you to where you want to be, but more importantly it's about assisting you in evolving into the person that you can become.

I want to remind you that the process is necessary for you to graduate to your next level. You can't skip it and you can't run away from it, you have to grow through it. Because if you give up during the process you wont be able to grab ahold of your prize.

You have to trust the process and realize that every mistake, every set back, and every rejection is drawing you closer to your success.

Just like the Chinese bamboo tree, the results won’t always come instantly, but you have to continue to invest in your vision. Make daily efforts, have faith, and be patient. Even though it seems like you’re being pushed away from where you want to go…you’re actually being aligned exactly with where you need to be. You’re growing and your moment is bound to happen.

Trust the process.