6 Ways to Take Advantage of Spring

Spring has always been my favorite season of the year.  It’s a time of optimism, new beginnings, activity, and time outside with my friends and family. 

Spring is also a metaphor for times when we are at our peak performance.  During our personal springs, goal achievement is easier, idea generation seems effortless and we can enjoy a natural enthusiasm without having to work at it.

So from my unique position as an urban backyard farmer and a goal setting guy, I bring to you 7 ways to take advantage of both your spring season and the mental spring you can experience at any time of year:

1.  Plant your crops early – Like a seed that is planted 2 months early has a much greater chance at becoming a bigger, more fruitful plant, we must take action on our ideas early as well.  If we wait too long, our great idea could become commonplace.  Our ideas should be in the soil within days of having them.  There’s no tomorrow.  Get to work on those ideas as soon as possible.

2.  Protect them from unexpected weather – Our ideas like seeds can face several different early killers.  We must protect them from unexpected weather and pests.  If we share them with the wrong people, they can blow them away with negativity.  They can trample them with their own ideas of the way things should be.  Or like birds, they can peck away at them until you have nothing left.

3.  Fertilize the plants while they are small - Just like tiny seed ideas we planted early, we need to fertilize ideas and actions when they are new and fresh.  Setting aside brainstorming sessions will add commitment and more ideas.  Enthusiasm will make the tasks fun and enjoyable.

4.  Aerate and mulch the soil – One of the more tedious jobs of a farmer is to aerate the soil.  Working on the commonplace things such as cleaning our desks, paying taxes, and attending meetings may be tedious and boring.  However, not all work is fun.  Keeping our environment clean and functional allows us to clear our minds for our new actions. Like plants, our environment needs care.  Working with clutter and noise in the immediate environment leads to distraction and time lost. 

5.  Find and eliminate weeds – Weeds and pests will kill a garden if left to their own devices.  So will the weeds and pests of negativity.  My recent post discussed how all good will be attacked.  Fight the attacking weeds.  We know there is always a way.  The weeds can be weeds of the mind in forms of negative thoughts or actions.  The external weeds are nay-sayers who tell you “it won’t work” or who criticize you.  Like garden weeds they should be removed from your surroundings as well. 

6. Harden-off young plants – When you have small plants that were started indoors, they can’t just be plopped outside and expected to thrive.  We “harden them off” by taking them out for a couple of hours every day.  This is repeated for a while and gradually we add the amount of time the new plants are out there until they can make it on their own. 

In the same way, we can harden off our ideas and goals.  If you want to lose 50lbs.  You don’t have to start out with 50lbs.  Start out with 5lbs and work yourself up.  We can start with smaller tasks until our skills grow into the larger ones. 

If you wanted to close a million dollar sale, you don’t have to start presenting at Microsoft.  You can present to smaller companies and build your skills until one day they are ready for the big one.

Finally, enjoy it while it lasts.  The spring season doesn’t last forever.  Neither does our mental springtime.  So enjoy it and get as much out of it as you can. 

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• Diversify Your Investments by Starting a Side Business

• Abe Lincoln’s Productivity Secret

• Goal Visualization: Create Your Own Goal Collage

• Goals As Road Maps