One of my favorite sayings is “bloom where you are planted.” It’s an old one but I never get tired of it. I guess it’s because it works. To me it means you can succeed in any situation no matter where you are or what the challenge is. I think in every point in life it feels like there is a test or a trial to be faced. That is why this well used saying works for me. It serves as a reminder. It works every time.
There are a few things required in order to “bloom where you are planted.”
First, use discovery to assess the conditions in which you are planted. Use discovery and collect all the accurate information you can about your situation. Look around you (kind of like a detective would).
Delete fear. Future threats and past failures tend to worry us and make us afraid. Take them out of your discovery process and truly look at what is going on right now, in the moment. For example, maybe you find yourself currently in a big mud pit of life (or possibly a small one that feels more like an inconvenience). Look around and see what is going on. What is available and how you could move forward right now? Take out unrealistic expectations; sometimes we just have to do the next best thing. That’s good enough and reasonable.
Second, use your authentic gifts and talents. To get us out and actually blooming, just plug them right in. If you know who you are, you will know what to do. If you still struggle defining who you are, start there. Look for your authentic traits, get to know them and try them out. Going back to the example of being stuck in the mud, pick one trait and plug it in to that situation. For example, maybe you are a “get ‘er done” person. So you just start moving, then you start shoveling. The next thing you know you have dug yourself out and created a nice hole for a foundation to be poured and something new can be built.
Third, celebrate your accomplishments. Acknowledge them with gratitude. A feeling of gratitude always makes us happy and actually releases good chemicals in our body.
Each design has its own talents and strengths. Look at where you are planted right now, at this very moment in your life. What does it really look like? How big is the mud pit and how stuck are you? Then look at your design and start plugging in your talents to overcome it in your own way. Not how someone else does it. How YOU do it.
SATURATED
Logical and clear
Disciplined
Capable
Influential
Uncompromising (when it comes to correct principles)
Reserved and cool
Simple
WHITENED
Quick thinker
Multi-tasker
Flexible
Spontaneous
Enrolling through emotional strength
Non-threatening
No guile
GRAYED
Meticulous
Thorough
Connector (they can think of all the could be’s, might be’s, and all possible connections)
Analyzer
Conservative
Calm
Refined
Emotional strength
BLACKENED
Resourceful
Real
Task-oriented
Considerate
Warm
Logical
Pragmatic
So today start where you are standing (or planted), and go ahead and bloom. Like the first flower of summer that is so exciting. Don’t look back, and keep blooming in your way; a way no one else can. That’s what makes you unique and able to succeed.
And remember, everyone is a masterpiece.
