Do You Wish the Grass Were Greener?

Try watering your lawn before you give up.

It’s March Break, and as we all wait for warmer weather to arrive, it’s natural for a busy business owner’s brain to turn up new ideas and home in on untapped opportunities. The end of winter can bring a new wave of energy and motivation.

But as the snow melts around us, there’s a great visual reminder that the grass isn’t necessarily greener somewhere else. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener where you water it.

Launching a new product or service because yours isn’t getting the results you want is like moving to a new home because your grass turned brown. At best, it’s a short-term solution. If you don’t water that grass either, you’re going to have wasted a lot of time and money for the same poor results.

Do You Really Need Something New?

In Meditations for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman writes, “Perfectionists love to begin new endeavors, because the moment of starting belongs to the world of limitlessness: for as long as you haven’t done any work on a project, it’s still possible to believe that the end result might match the ideal in your mind.”

Whatever great idea you just had – a new marketing campaign, a new product, a new role in your org chart – represents pure potential. Perfect, exciting, and full of possibility. It looks incredible because you’re viewing it from a distance. You’re not yet close enough to notice the rough edges, the flaws, the compromises you’d have to make, or the grunt work involved in getting it off the ground.

It’s easy to forget that all the things you’re slogging through right now also started out as fresh, beautiful ideas. It was only as you got stuck in the messy middle that you realized how challenging they were.

In other words, even really good ideas can be a trap. They’re a dreamy release from the hard work of building. We assume a new project will be different – that the real problem is THIS project – when the reality is that ALL projects get hard when you’re in the messy middle.

Lawncare for Your Business

The secrets to a sustainable business could be pulled from the instructions on a bag of grass seed.

Choose the right seeds for your environment. That means getting to know your growing conditions before you start. Take time to do your research.
Feed and water carefully. Make sure your soil doesn’t run out of resources. If you’re on a tight budget or short on time, don’t over-extend yourself. Resources are far less potent when stretched thin.
Stick with it for longer than you want to. It will be boring.
Pull the weeds as soon as you notice them, or you’ll regret it.
If you’re not going to take care of your lawn, there’s little use in planting it.

If you want to grow your business this spring, think about how your green-thumbed neighbour cares for their lawn. How green might your own grass get with patience and care?

This Week’s Takeaway

If you’re wondering which of your great ideas to plant this spring, why not take a few minutes to think through whether you could get the same results by taking great care of the business you already have?

March 27th – Business Planning Workshop

Register for GrowthCLUB!

Join us to build a clear Q2 action plan and reflect on your progress with the help of expert coaches and peers. We’ll also cover how to build a referral engine and multiply your best customers in the morning keynote.

Agenda:

GrowthCLUB morning keynote: Build a Referral Engine
Peer support and collaborative problem-solving
90-day business planning workshop
Networking lunch with local entrepreneurs

Living Arts Centre | 9:30am – 3:00pm

REGISTER HERE

The Art of Spending Money: By Morgan Housel

The Art of Spending Money is a reflective take on a topic many of us assume we’ve already figured out. Morgan Housel shifts the focus away from tactics and toward mindset, exploring how our expectations, identity, and definitions of “enough” quietly drive our financial choices. It brings a welcome reminder that spending well often begins with clearer self-awareness and not just better spreadsheets.

Check it out!