My 2-year-old daughter is completely and utterly fascinated by nuts that fall on the ground this time of year.
She closely examines them; collects them in buckets; sorts them by color; and then carefully places them in the grass for squirrels to find. Day after day she wants to go outside and check on the status of the nuts to see if they have moved or been collected. This process never gets old to her.
And while I get joy watching her experience something she loves, I do not have the same fascination.
My tendency is to take a quick look at a nut (mostly because I’ve lost my footing when I’ve stepped on one) and keep walking. In fact, if it weren’t for me stepping on the nut, it probably never would have caught my attention in the first place!
I used to sing a song when I was a kid that said....
“I’m an acorn small and round, sitting on the hard-hard ground. Everybody steps on me. That is why I’m cracked you see. I’m a nut (click-click), I’m a nut (click-click), I’m a nut, I’m a nut, I’m a nut (click-click).”
Whether you know this song or not is irrelevant, but it does exemplify a relevant concept.
The truth about an acorn is that it’s a dormant oak tree seed! With the right nurturing and care, it will turn into a huge, full, and fruitful oak tree. That’s the minority though. Think about HOW MANY acorns end up sitting on hard-hard ground; getting stepped on; and laying there cracked until they decompose.
This is true of people as well! We are acorns! Many people have been in work environments that have kept them dormant. Their potential is unchanged, but it’s confined to the realities of what their employer and job say success looks like.
If they branched out and found fertile environments, they could break out into their full potential.
Don’t confine yourself in the constructs of this world.
It turns out my daughter was onto something. There should be huge fascination with nuts! For something with such astounding potential to be cased into a small hard shell is incredible! All it takes is proper nourishment.
If you’re wondering how to start breaking out of your shell to find a fertile work environment.....take our Purpose Assessment. It’s the first step in a great journey that lies ahead.
The Purpose Promise process provided much-needed clarity in terms of what I wanted from my life. First and foremost, about how my job and career would help me or allow me to reach that goal.