July 11

What Gets Pruned Grows Stronger

As creative pros, we don’t struggle with new ideas, new projects, new meetings, new initiatives, new businesses, etc. What we often struggle with is saying no. We add thing after thing to our lives until we are suf- focating. There is simply no room left for another commitment. Then, of course, we add another.

This dynamic often plays out in organizations as well, where we love to add new systems and initiatives and expectations but rarely remove any of the old ones.

In a vineyard, a good vine keeper knows the value of pruning. If not regularly pruned, a vine will not produce up to its potential. Over time, it can bear a lot of mediocre fruit or a select amount of very good fruit.

The same principle applies in your life. Without routine pruning, you will settle into mediocrity because you simply won’t have enough resources to support your ambitions.

What very good thing in your life might need to go away so that something better can be born in its place? It might be a meeting, a project that once showed promise but now has become an energy drain, or even a relationship that is hanging on by a thread but neither of you wants to stop meeting for coffee. You must grow comfortable with pruning if you want to have sufficient energy and mental space to pour yourself into what matters most.

You must create space in life for the things that matter.

QUESTION

What needs to be pruned so that you have the focus, energy, and time to pour into what matters most?