What Bamboo Teaches Us About Patience & Deserving What You Want
Today's essay is around the importance of patience. It’s been a topic that’s been top of mind for me this past month as I manage through some major (and exciting!) life changes. Patience as I transition into a new career. Patience while learning to raise two kids. Patience in your own growth, even when it feels like you’re moving backwards.
Life’s journey is never linear but the key is to keep going. As Confucius once said: “It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop”.
I logged in for a first day of work for the first time in 11 years last month. Refreshed after a four-month paternity leave, I couldn’t wait jump in. Every part of me wanted to get off to a fast start and make a good first impression. After getting through the typical administrative tasks, I eagerly awaited my first assignment. And waited… and waited some more…
It didn’t come in my first day, or the first week, or even the second week. Instead, most of my time was filled with introductory meetings with people on the team but no traditional deliverable or project. This was a bit unsettling coming from an industry where you’re expected to produce constantly. But one piece of advice that kept coming up throughout all my introductory conversations was to “be patient”.
Patience is a scarce resource in our go-go society. We value ease, convenience, and efficiency. Short on supplies? Amazon can get you anything in two days. Hungry? Pick from thousands of restaurants to have something delivered within the hour. Need to go somewhere? A car can be downstairs waiting for you in minutes. We are accustomed to instant gratification and immediate results. God help us if our delivery is more than ten minutes late…
While that is all great, it can also be a shame. We forget the value of deferring that gratification. Without patience, consistency, and time, it’s hard to achieve anything meaningful in life. You don’t build a successful new career overnight. You don’t become a better person overnight. That journey and wait are what makes it worthwhile.
What Bamboo Teaches Us About Patience
Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. During its growth phase, it can grow up to 3-4 feet in a single day. But for the first four years of its life, it stays buried without a single sprout above ground. For those early years, the farmer waters and takes care of the soil without seeing a single hint of progress, until a single season when it shoots up to over 100 feet tall.
Many things you work on, whether it’s starting new job, learning a skill, or just trying to be a better person, follows the same trajectory. You might put in a lot of work and sweat without much to show for all that effort early on. Only months or sometimes years later do you see the return on that investment. You don’t know exactly when it’s going to happen. Patience is about accepting that fact and still committing to doing all those other things within your control. You can only be patient, be consistent, and have a little faith.
When I first started cooking a few years ago, the kitchen would usually end up looking like a war zone with a fire alarm blaring in the background. A common mistake I made was trying to rush through recipes. Eventually, I learned that the most important ingredient in any recipe is time - time for flavors to marinate, time for the pan to heat up, time for it all to come together. When trying to create anything great, the process can’t be rushed. You gotta give it time.
After 4 years, I am by no means a great cook. But I was consistent in putting in the reps and am better than I was when I started. I don’t set off any more fire alarms or serve my friends undercooked burgers (sorry guys!). I can whip up a few meals without having to constantly reference a recipe and know my way around the kitchen. It’s progress. Whatever you’re trying to achieve, there will be ups and downs, but the key is to keep going.
Like the bamboo farmer, you stay patient and keep watering that soil.
Do You Deserve It?
“The best way to get what you want in life is to deserve what you want” ~ Charlie Munger
This is one of my favorite ideas from Poor Charlie’s Almanack, a compilation of Charlie Munger’s speeches and talks. I would highly recommend the book for anyone interested in getting inside the mind of one of the most successful investors and thinkers of our time.
Rather than looking externally for things to happen to you, focus internally on what you can do to deserve it. If you want to be fit and healthy, the best way is to eat well and exercise. If you want to have good relationships, the best way is to put in time and effort on your end. If you want to be financially independent, the best way is to budget and stick to it.
If there is something you want that isn’t happening for you, ask yourself these questions:
What is one thing I can do that I’m not doing today that will make me more deserving of this goal?
What is a realistic amount of time / frequency I can commit to this?
How much do I really want it / where does this fall in my other priorities?
Figure out what you can do to be more deserving of that thing and then do it. The results will take care of themselves.