The Parable of the Mustard Seed highlights the importance of small beginnings. What was considered among the smallest of seeds, once it has matured, grows into a large, bird-sheltering shrub. Within the seed is immense, invisible potential.
A seed is a tiny, dormant embryo containing the blueprint for a full-grown plant. Within the DNA of a seed is a hidden forest of future abundance, growth, and purpose. It only needs the right conditions, including moisture, warmth, and soil, to break dormancy and germinate. The seed doesn’t look like much, but it stores life, nutrients, and the genetic blueprint to become a flower, shrub, bush, or tree.
Among the fastest-growing seeds are radishes, with some varieties germinating in just 48 hours and ready for harvest in 21-30 days. Lettuce and spinach take only 7-10 days to sprout. My wife loves planting heat-loving flowers like marigolds and zinnias, as they, too, sprout quickly and withstand the southern heat.
Compare that to onions, which require several months of indoor growth to reach the proper size before they can be transplanted. Peppers and eggplant require several weeks of warm soil to germinate and establish roots. One of the slowest is the flower, lisianthus, which must be planted 10-12 weeks before the last frost and often takes up to 5 months from germination to bloom.
Some of the smallest flowering seeds are produced by the Orchid, Poppy, Pansy, and Foxglove. Among the smallest vegetable seeds are Carrot, Onion, and Lettuce. Many of these seeds are so tiny and lightweight that they resemble dust. Compare that to the Coco De Mer, whose seed (called the double coconut) can measure up to half a meter in length and weigh up to 55 pounds.
Regardless of the seed, they all have one thing in common. They all possess potential, and they all produce after their own kind.
For a seed to sprout, it must be buried in the ground. Potential alone isn’t enough. Until a seed is planted and nurtured, it cannot grow. It is in the darkness of the cold, damp ground that the process of germination begins. This is where the seed begins to develop a root system that will nourish and ultimately support the plant once it breaks through the surface.
By the same token, you can’t plant apple seeds and expect to harvest oranges or grapes. A poppy seed can produce roses, nor can a watermelon seed produce pumpkins. The DNA, what’s on the inside of the seed, determines what is revealed to the world once the seed germinates, establishes its roots, grows to maturity, and starts to produce fruit.
The seed represents the process of growth. Early progress is hidden beneath the surface as the roots that support the plant are firmly established, anchoring it to the soil and forming a network through which nutrients can continue to feed and sustain growth. Only after the root system is fully established can the stalk rise and the plant begin to produce fruit.
The potential of what could be remains hidden within the seed. It can only be revealed if the conditions are right for the seed to awaken from its dormant state. But once it is awakened, establishes its roots, grows to maturity, and starts producing fruit, it will only produce fruit that aligns with its DNA blueprint.
If success starts as a seed, then what are you growing and where are you growing?
In a 2023 TED Talk, philosopher Agnes Callard commented on the difference between ambition and aspiration. Ambition, she said, is the outcome you want to attain; however, aspiration is the person you hope to become. Both can fuel your life, but in different ways.
Ambition doesn’t require you to appreciate the outcome. You just want to attain it. Aspiration, on the other hand, is where you learn to appreciate the journey, the lessons learned along the way, and value how this has shaped you into a new and better version of yourself.
Ambition leads to achievement. Aspiration leads to transformation. The former allows you to accomplish more, but the latter allows you to become more.
When it comes to success, are you ambitious or aspirational?
Which of these is being programmed into your DNA that will ultimately manifest itself as success in your life?
My mentor, Dr. John Maxwell, often says, “We teach what we know, but reproduce who we are.” It’s the DNA of what’s inside of you that takes root, grows, develops, and brings forth fruit for the world to see. The question you must answer is what are you putting inside of you?
Knowing that a seed only produces after its kind, what are you planting and nurturing in your life? You teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are.
What’s on the inside of you?
The seeds you’re sowing in your life right now are the hidden potential that, once it has germinated and taken root, will bring forth a harvest in your life.
What is the hidden potential, germinating within you?
A seed doesn’t look like much. It’s small, ordinary, and it’s easy to overlook. But inside that seed is everything. Just as the towering oak tree is encapsulated within the acorn, there is encapsulated power within you. Once it takes root and grows, it manifests itself as ideas, gifts, leadership ability, discipline, influence, and potential.
But remember, potential means nothing until it’s planted.
What are you planting inside of you?
You don’t plant a seed in the spotlight. You bury the seed in the ground. That seed goes into the darkness of the dirt where it sits alone, isolated, waiting to be awakened from its dormancy so it can start to expand and grow.
This is the part most people want to avoid. Most people want growth without struggle, elevation with progress, or visibility without preparation. That’s not how nature works. Before the seed ever breaks through the surface, it must first develop roots in the dark. It’s the daily preparation that establishes the beliefs, behaviors, and resilience in our lives that sets us up for a harvest of success once we’re established.
The necessity of darkness is the proving ground to see if you have what it takes to establish a strong root system that will empower you to succeed in the future. In reality, you are succeeding as you’re establishing the root system that will feed ongoing success at an ever-higher level for years into the future.
Remember, an apple tree doesn’t produce a single apple. It produces multiple apples year after year. Each of those apples contains the DNA of success to replicate the process at a higher level, turning one tree into an orchard over time.
The same is true of success in your life. Success produces not only fruit, but the seeds for an even greater harvest in the future. But it’s in the necessity of darkness, where preparation is an absolute, that you must nurture the seed, giving it what it needs to expand, grow, and prepare to bring forth a harvest.
There is also a need for nurturing. A seed left unattended doesn’t thrive; it dies. It needs the right environment, constant care, and protection from things that might choke it out or deprive it of the nutrients it requires to grow to its full potential. The same is true for success.
Whatever you consistently expose yourself to, you become. Whatever you’re feeding your mind transforms your thinking. The voices you allow into your environment will become the influences that guide your growth, or lack thereof. The habits you practice daily become the limiters or the lifters of your potential.
Whatever you consistently expose yourself to, you become.
You can’t plant seeds of doubt and expect confidence to grow. You can’t water negativity and expect a harvest of success.
You teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are.
Who are you becoming?
In the Parable of the Sower, a gardener scatters seed, which lands on four types of soil. Some seed fell on the pathway, and the birds quickly ate it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where the seeds sprout quickly but wither in the sun because they lack deep roots. Other seed fell among thorns, which choked the life out of the young plants. But some seed fell on fertile soil, where it could germinate, establish deep roots, and bring forth a harvest.
You are the Sower. You are carrying seeds right now. Perhaps you’re carrying the seeds of leadership, purpose, influence, and impact. Or perhaps you’re carrying the seeds of fear, doubt, a lack of confidence, or limiting beliefs. A seed can only reproduce after its kind.
What kind of seed are you sowing?
You are also the soil. Depending on the choices you’ve made and the circumstances of life you’re experiencing right now, you may find yourself in one of four conditions. You may be living in the pathway, so hardened by past experiences, disappointments, failure, or pride that nothing can penetrate that barrier.
Perhaps you’re like the rocky ground. You’re quick to get excited, can’t wait to get started, and so excited to commit, but when the pressure comes or adversity hits, you wither and fade. Why? There was never any depth, no discipline, or no foundation. You failed to create an environment where you could develop a root system strong enough to sustain growth.
Maybe you’re living among the thorns of life. The seed takes root. It germinates and starts to grow. Your intention is good, but then that good intention gets choked out by all the competing priorities in your life. Things like worry, busyness, comfort, or overcommitting. The seed of potential is strangled before it has a chance to mature.
You find yourself pursuing anything and everything, but mastering nothing in the process.
But, if you’re ready to receive the seed, patient enough to endure the process, disciplined enough to develop a strong root system, and focused enough to eliminate the weeds of distraction, the hidden potential of success in the seed will find a fertile place where it can be nurtured and grow.
You understand that growth is intentional. You know what seed you want to sow in your life, and you’ve prepared the soil to receive it. Not only that, but you will take the steps necessary to protect what you’ve planted, nurturing what matters, and removing the weeds that can impede the seed from growing to its full potential.
So, what kind of harvest are you planning for?
Seeds don’t negotiate. They only reproduce what’s on the inside. If you plant discipline, you reap mastery. If you plant consistency, you reap results. If you plant vision, you reap legacy. However, if you plant excuses, distraction, fear, or doubt, don’t be surprised by the harvest.
Remember, seeds reproduce after their kind. So do you.
What are you planting inside of you? What harvest are you preparing for?
Whatever you’re sowing, that’s what you’ll reap.
You teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are.
You can have the best intentions, say the right words, and even set the right goals. These aren’t seeds. What you’re planting, nurturing, and growing will show up in your identity, habits, character, and values. This is the harvest others will see and experience.
What you sow into your life will eventually bear fruit. It will be revealed to the world.
Remember, you not only get to choose the seed, but you also get to create the conditions for the soil to receive it. Even the best seed cannot overcome poor soil and a lack of nurturing. Break up the hardness, remove the rocks, and pull the weeds.
So, here’s my challenge to you.
First, audit the seeds you’re planting. Stop planting what you don’t want to harvest. Plant seeds of aspiration that, when nurtured, will transform you and inspire those around you to do the same. As my friend, Ray Poppham, says, “Be good at what you do, but be great at who you are.”
Secondly, embrace the dark season of growth. As I share in my book, “Black Belt Secrets of Success, “Successful people do daily what unsuccessful people do sometimes, or not at all.” This is where personal growth is a must. This is how you build the success practices that become the success habits that govern your life.
Be patient in the process, allowing time for these practices to deeply root themselves in your life so they can allow you to rise to your full potential.
Thirdly, commit to nurturing what matters the most. A seed needs not only good soil, but moisture, warmth, and nutrients to maximize growth. This is where you water and fertilize your thinking, because as you think, you say, do, and become. This is also the weeding and pruning part of your journey, where you replace beliefs that aren’t serving you well with beliefs that do.
Remember, you are preparing the soil of your life so the seed of success can thrive, allowing you to become a better version of who you are and what you do in the process.
Don’t forget, you play three roles in the process of revealing hidden potential. Two you now know, and the third, I will reveal to you now.
First, you are the Sower. Choose your seed well, and where you sow it.
Secondly, you are the soil. Prepare yourself so the seed can maximize its growth potential.
Third, and most importantly, you will also become the harvest.
One day, the world will sit under the shade of what you planted.
Will it be a tree of strength, or a field of regret?
Plant wisely. Grow intentionally.
This is what Black Belt Leaders do.
