“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” – Benjamin Franklin
The story is told of a painter named Chu Ta who was once contracted by a rich man to produce for him a portrait of golden fish. He accepted to execute the project and the rich man left the art studio. Many months later, the rich man did not receive his work.
Disappointed and angered, the rich man stormed the art studio one morning and demanded that Chu produce for him his work. Chu mounted his canvas on the easel. He picked his pencil, brush and paint. Within a few minutes, he produced a very beautiful piece of art – a golden fish. The rich man was amazed when Chu handed him the artwork. In wonder, he asked: “If you can produce such beautiful artwork within a few minutes, why did you waste all these months without producing it for me?” Still, in his quiet posture, the painter moved to a cupboard, followed by the rich man’s gaze. He opened the cupboard and many fish-arts fell down from the cupboard. Awed by the sight, the rich man understood the painter’s unspoken message.
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish artist, noted for his exceptional work in painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics and theatre design. Picasso (as he was popularly referred to) went to the market one day. While there, a woman rushed up to him with all excitement and pleaded with Picasso to make a portrait of her. She handed him a piece of paper and a pencil.
In just about half a minute Picasso was done with a beautiful pencil-art of the woman. Handing it over to the woman, he said: “This will cost you US$30,000”. Shocked, the woman asked: “How could you charge me US$30,000 for work you finished in just 30 seconds?” Picasso gently replied, ‘It took me 30 years to be able to do this in 30 seconds”.
In the stories above, one can deduce that success comes with preparation/training. Certainly, it is safe to say that when we make time to make adequate preparations, we succeed.
The process of preparation is slow. It may take years to complete. Sometimes, our preparatory work lasts so long that we wonder whether it will lead to any accomplishment. It must be noted that the gestation period of every great accomplishment is usually longer than for any mediocre or small achievement.
History is full of many stories about legends who worked so hard waiting for their season of fruition. They worked long and hard. They worked through thick and thin. They worked under cover of the night. They worked while their contemporaries slept. In the end, their success became manifest.
One factor that inspired this write-up is the cultivation of Chinese bamboo. Bamboo has been noted to be an invaluable source of wealth to nations and people who know its uses. This piece is not necessarily about the usefulness of bamboo, but rather its cultivation. Bamboo, when planted, has the shoot grow very little through four years. During this period, the extensive root system keeps growing and taking hold of the soil. Once the roots are firmly in place, the bamboo can grow to an amazing height of eighty feet in just six weeks. Yes, 80 feet. Yes, in just 6 weeks.
For many years, there’s almost nothing going on for the young bamboo. Many people may walk past the young plant and see only a shoot. Others may curse the plant for staying too long without growth. While all these are happening, somewhere beneath the soil will be an extensive rooting system. Knowing that it will grow so high and become so heavy, the plant needs to ensure that its base is solid.
Success is weighty. Success management needs weight management strategies. To carry any heavy item, the carrier must be prepared to deal skilfully with the weight. In many cases, the carrier must ensure that he or she builds-up him or herself to become weightier than the weight to be carried.
The preparatory process is often the part that we do not see. Many people do not see the struggles others go through to market their brands. During those drudging days of working to push into the limelight, entrepreneurs’ efforts are mostly not regarded. There’s little interest in staying at the preparatory stage. However, the only reason reasonable people continue to go through the process is the hope of success.
Our preparation consolidates our foundation. It makes our base stronger to withstand any shocks that are likely to arise in the glory days. And it is most likely that shocks will come up.
There are many phases of struggling during this period. Our family and friends may not enjoy our company. Our relationship with them may be boring. This is simply because they are expecting success. Justifiably so. It may get to a point during the preparatory stage that we will become the laughing-stock of close associates. Some well-meaning friends and family may try to talk us out of our plans and choose what they describe as the easy way out of the ‘mess’ that we find ourselves in.
This is where we need some reasoning. Reasoning will remind us that all the beautiful artworks we see are the result of many months of preparations. The same reasoning will remind us that the beautiful theatrical performance that was staged is the result of arduous and unpleasant months of rehearsals.
In sport, we see a lot of breathtaking displays of physical agility. Some sportsmen and women give us spellbinding performances. And who can ever think that performing these activities in such excellent ways is just a mere display of talent? The truth is…such performances cannot be simply attributed to talent. They go beyond the mere possession of talent. The talent needs to be honed, and it is honed through practice.
It is always good to prepare oneself to be able to achieve maximum benefit from the opportunities that life always presents us with. Therefore, give yourself time to prepare. As you prepare, focus. As you prepare, seek advice. As you prepare, practice.
The writer is a Certified Educator, Professional MC and Storyteller. He’s an expert in writing and publishing children’s books – fun and didactic stories called the Mmoasɛm Series.
