Water Your Lettuce
- March 12, 2018
- Posted by: Robert Rose
- Category: Business Transformation
What have you resolved to do differently in 2018? According to Statista, the top two 2018 resolutions in the U.S., by far outstripping all others, were “Save money” and “Lose weight or get in shape.” When it comes to our businesses, we might resolve to delegate more, simplify, or launch and measure that content marketing initiative.
Whatever your resolutions, if you’re like most (including me), you think in terms of something you want to fix or improve, something that’s wrong, probably with you. While positive things can come from such introspection, it’s easy to fall into the trap of blaming yourself.
As we start this new year, rather than list our “faults” and blame ourselves for still having them, what if we simply sought to understand what we want – without judgment? What if, rather than dwell on our perceived weaknesses, we resolved to foster and feed our strengths?
Over the holiday I was reading the philosopher Thich Nhat Hanh, who says, “When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce.” At the end of one of his lectures, in which he shared this example with his audience, he overheard a girl saying, “Mommy, remember to water me – I am your lettuce.”
What or who is your lettuce? What will you do this year to keep it watered?
It’s your story to tell. Tell it well.
Robert’s book, Experiences: The 7th Era of Marketing was called “a call to arms and a self-help guide for creating the experiences that consumers will fall in love with.” For the last three years, he’s co-hosted the podcast This Old Marketing, with Joe Pulizzi. It’s frequently a top 20 marketing podcast on iTunes and is downloaded more than a million times every year, in 100 countries around the world.
