IF YOU DON'T LIKE YOUR HARVEST, CHECK YOUR SEED

 

It's an old farmer's saying, and it's as true today as it was a hundred years ago. If you want a good crop, you have to start with good seed. That means selecting the right variety for your soil and climate, and making sure it's healthy and viable. 

If you don't like your harvest check your seed, it may be time to take a closer look at the quality of your seeds. Seeds are the foundation of any good crop, and if they are not up to par, it will show in the yield. There are a few things to look for when examining your seeds to see if they are the issue.

The first is seed size. If the seeds are too small, they will not have enough energy to power through the growing process and produce a good crop. 

The second is seed shape. Seeds that are misshapen or have odd shapes will also have a hard time growing into strong, healthy plants.

The third is seed color. Seeds that are discolored or have spots on them are likely to be sick or diseased and will not produce a good crop. 

Finally, check the seed coat. A healthy seed coat should be smooth and unbroken. If the coat is damaged, the seed will be more susceptible to disease and will not produce a good crop. 

If you find that your seeds are not up to par, it is important to get new ones as soon as possible. Seeds are the key to a good harvest, and without them, your entire crop will suffer. 

Choose your seed wisely if you expect good harvest!

FOCUS ON YOUR GOALS

Focus is the single most important factor that will determine whether your dreams come true or not. Depending on what your dreams are, there are so many rivers to cross. Some hurdles look quite formidable, and a lot of folks give up at the first sign of a setback.

Focus helps you put your act together. It helps you mobilize your resources and channel them in one direction. That way, you make progress consistently in the direction of your goal or milestones.

Imagine the lamps in the front of your car. Most models use the same size and bulb and wattage. What makes a full beam is focus. Driving on a dark road at midnight, you can see up to a kilometer ahead. If the beam is focussed further, it can generate heat. Focussed further still, it cut through some materials. That is the power of focus.

To fulfil your dreams, you have to break it down into actionable segments, goals. Fulfilling the dream involves achieving the goals that make up the dream. Focus enables you meet your goals.

Without focus, you become distracted. You lose direction. Your priorities get messed up. You start to look in different directions. This may involve beginning other projects, when the one at hand has not been pursued to a logical conclusion. The cycle continues, and the net effect is that you litter the landscape with abandoned projects. If you consider the time, energy and resources committed into these abandoned projects, put together and focussed on one project, results would have been achieved.

This brings to mind a simple experiment we did in junior high. To draw a simple straight line from point A to point B, without using a straight edge. To do that successfully, we were instructed to mark out the two points at two opposite ends of a plain sheet of paper. Then placing our pencil on point A, we were to keep our eyes on point B, as we draw the line. The net effect was a simple (maybe not perfect) straight line from point A to B. We were told to repeat the experiment, this time, place our pencil at point a, and keep our eyes on the pencil as it makes its way to point B. You can guess the result; a wavy line from point A to nowhere. By the time the pencil got to the opposite edge of the paper, we had to look for point B is. We had all gone way off mark.

It was a simple and powerful lesson in focus, though sadly, few of us took it to heart; keep your eyes where you are going, and you will get there. Keep your eyes where you are, and you will get lost.

Have you ever wondered what is the difference between a magnet and a nail? They are both made of carbon steel. It is in its molecular structure. Each has a north and south polarity. In the magnet, all the molecules are in perfect alignment, all north poles pointing in one direction (to make the north pole) and all south poles pointing in the opposite direction (to make the south pole). This is what accumulates to constitute the magnetic force. In the nail, the alignment is haphazard. They point in all directions. The net effect is that the electromagnetic forces cancel themselves and the resultant magnetic force is nil.

If you bring a nail within the magnetic field of a magnet, it sucks it in. While still attached to the magnet, the nail becomes a magnet too, and can magnet other metals. What happens is the magnetic force of the magnet forces the molecules in the nail to put its act together and line up in one direction. If you remove the nail, its molecular array returns to its former state, and it becomes a non-magnet one more time.

The magnet is a focused guy. He pulls its resources together and achieves. The nail is a confused guy, he deploys its resources in all directions, jumps from project to project and cancels out whatever progress he would have made.

As a shrewd manager of or time, energy and resources we need to plan and focus. You may have a thousand ideas. Create an idea bank in your computer and store them for safekeeping. Each idea has its time. Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. If you run before time, you wear yourself out, and add your idea to your database of abandoned projects. Instead of the idea motivating you, it now becomes a source of discouragement.

Each well-run army knows its strategic strengths, and how many theatres of war it can prosecute simultaneously. If it over stretches itself, it sets itself up for defeat.

It may be time step back review your current ongoing projects. Take a second look at your short term and long term goals. Do you still believe in your dream? If so, look at projects that are on the critical path to the fulfillment of your dream. Suspend projects that distract you from getting to where you are headed. If all your ongoing projects are relevant, assign priorities to them, continue with the most critical, and keep the others in view. Pursue one project to its logical conclusion. It may not necessarily mean staying permanently on one project. You can push it to a stage that it becomes self-sustaining or delegate-able to others, then delegate and move on. It will continue to thrive, as you break new grounds. Also you can take on other projects, if and only if they do not distract you, or slow down your primary thrust.

It does not make sense to complain that you don't have enough time to do the things you need to do, simply because you got your life cluttered with so many things that are nice, but not absolutely necessary.

It is great to start. Most folks don’t. But starting alone is not enough. Finish what you start. The laurel belongs to those who finish, not to starters. The end of the matter is better than the beginning thereof. If you remain focussed long enough, you will get to the finish line.

ATTITUDE DETERMINES ALTITUDE

Your attitude determines your altitude – in business and in life. You can’t change someone else’s attitude for them. But this powerful adage is a great reminder that you can put in front of anyone who needs an attitude adjustment. Let's discuss about a few of the many ways each of us can develop a winning attitude every day. It’s what leaders do.

Marcus Aurelius, the great philosopher who ruled the Roman Empire, said it simply: “Our life is what our thoughts make it”.

Dale Carnegie, speaking to that quote said: “Yes, if we think happy thoughts, we will be happy. If we think miserable thoughts, we will be miserable. If we think fear thoughts, we will be fearful. If we think sickly thoughts we probably will be ill. If we think failure, we will certainly fail. If we wallow in self-pity, everyone will want to shun us and avoid us”.

Mental attitude - the power we hold in our heads. Reality can be changed dramatically by a single thought. In nutrition the adage is you are what you eat. In terms of leadership, it’s more likely you are what you think. Contrary to what people want to believe, outside influences don’t usually determine your happiness or success, rather it is how we react to those influences – good or bad. 

Humor is vital. When things aren’t going your way, keep everything in perspective and relax. Some laugh. Others throw up their hands. Whole industries get very cynical.

Positive self-confident feelings not only help you achieve more; they also make others want to be associated with you. People are drawn to others who have an upbeat outlook, who have a can-do attitude. Constant complainers don’t collect an easy following.

One of a leader’s most important jobs is to set a positive and self-confident tone, exuding the attitude that failure is not an option. A positive attitude is the cornerstone of leadership. It’s the same confidence that a quarterback, a golfer, or a tennis star projects every time they come out of the locker room.

To gain strength from the positive and not be sapped by the negative, here are a few ideas:

• Focus on the 90% of your team who will run with your vision and your plan - don't let the "negative nellies" drain you or poison your team.
• Tap your spiritual essence at work too - use your spirit and your heart to move you and your work forward.
• Break the negative energy cycle – if you see yourself spiraling down or in a rut, mix it up, breakup the routine and do something fast that lifts you up. When you see one of your team members in a rut of unproductive or unprofessional behavior address it, don’t let it fester.
• Active listening – takes time. Work at it, to hear what your team wants. Often just by being heard, problems can go away and people really make a big turnaround.
• You must be the emotional manager of your office - not your assistant, not the new hotshot you just hired. In a family, parents must be the emotional managers or chaos rules the home. In your business, you must wear that mantel, albeit reluctantly at times. It’s part of your leadership role and power. Hone it, as well as your reactions to external events, and you’ll see the culture around you shift to the positive.

Jim Collins points out in Good to Great: When in doubt, don’t hire – keep looking. You can’t grow revenues consistently faster than your ability to get enough of the right people to implement that growth and still become a great company. So unless candidates for the open position have that can-do attitude and are a strong fit for your company in who they are – don’t hire them. The skills can be taught; the and-then-some positive attitude cannot.

The prerequisite is attitude. Attitude is the one thing we can’t change in employees. You’ve got a good attitude or you don’t. Given adequate ability and desire to learn, everything else can be taught to employees with good attitudes. You might have tried many times to teach good attitudes and have come to the conclusion it is about as easy as making a mud fence.

A negative attitude will pull you down and with it your professional results. A positive attitude will pull you over the rough spots and energize you to lift your results to new heights – to match your vision. Whether you need an attitude adjustment a couple of times a day, once a week or only occasionally, never forget that your attitude determines your altitude. Don’t let outside people or events bring yours down.

IMPORTANCE OF PERSEVERANCE

In today's society, it is easy to get discouraged and give up when things become difficult. Perseverance is an important quality to possess because it allows people to overcome challenges and achieve their goals. 

Perseverance is defined as the quality of continuing to try to do something even though it is difficult. It is the ability to keep going even when things are tough. This quality is important because it allows people to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. 

 There are many examples of people who have achieved success through perseverance. One of the most famous examples is Thomas Edison. He is known for inventing the light bulb. However, what is less known is that it took him over 1,000 attempts to invent the light bulb. He did not give up because he believed in his idea and knew that it was possible to achieve. 

Another example of someone who achieved success through perseverance is J.K. Rowling. She is the author of the Harry Potter series. What is less known about her is that she was rejected by 12 different publishers before she finally found one who was willing to publish her book. She did not give up because she believed in her story and knew that it would be successful. 

There are many other examples of people who have achieved success through perseverance. These examples show that it is possible to overcome obstacles and achieve goals, even when it is difficult. Perseverance is an important quality to possess because it allows people to overcome challenges. 

It is the ability to keep going even when things are tough. This quality is important because it allows people to achieve their goals.