Lessons of Patience and Perseverance From the Chinese Bamboo Tree
Results Will Show One Day
In one of his videos, Les Brown demonstrated the importance of patience and perseverance using the example of the Chinese Bamboo Tree.
The Chinese Bamboo Tree needs to be nurtured and watered every day, but the exciting part is that the tree doesn’t emerge from the ground during the first five years. That means for the first five years, one has to water something that is not even visible.
After five years, when the plant finally appears above ground, it quickly grows to 90 feet within a few weeks. Visibly, the plant grows 90 feet tall within 5 to 9 weeks. However, very few know it took five years + a few weeks to grow that tall.
How can we apply this to our lives?
Developing new skills is like watering an invisible plant. We may not gain anything for the first few weeks/months when we learn a new skill.
After a few weeks, if we stop watering the bamboo plant, it will die before emerging out of the soil. Similarly, prematurely giving up on learning a new skill will prevent us from seeing any results.
Remember, seeing the fruits of our efforts often requires patience and persistence.
