The Power of Cumulative: In This Garden We Call Life, Pull A Few Weeds Every Day

I have always liked the word "cumulative". It helps me stay the course.

Like most other people, I would much rather do a project that starts and ends right away, giving me a much needed sense of accomplishment.

But taking the time to be cumulative leads to great things. Writing a book is cumulative. Graduating from law school is cumulative. Being successful in your business is cumulative.

Each day I do battle with myself as I try to take time to do everything that is CUMULATIVE about my life.  It is not easy and I struggle.

Cumulative means you only accumulate a little progress each time. A little knowledge each time. There is no satisfaction of being finished, and there is still a project hanging over your head.

There is no perfection. There is no recognition. For all of these reasons, taking the time to do things that are cumulative is difficult.

Cumulative is when you stand in front of an enormous patch of weeds and think "What good will it do if I only yank out a few of these weeds? It will still be a big ugly patch of weeds."

You have an option to pull JUST A FEW. There would be dirt under your fingernails. You would need to dispose of the weeds you pulled out. And no one is even going to notice, or give you any credit. The sun is hot, you aren't wearing sunscreen....

So you walk away, and guess what? You were right.  It is still a big ugly patch of weeds, so what could you have done about it, ANYWAY? (losing the fight inside my brain...)

You could have pulled a few. You could have come back the following day and pulled a few more. And the next. And eventually, your progress would become evident. But each day, you would have that same battle with your immediate gratification self.

It takes exteme discipline to allocate time for things that are CUMULATIVE.  That is how the weeds grew there in the first place. You didn't take the time to pull them every single day.

So consider:

You could have taken the time to put 3 new names in your datebase ( instead of having NO datebase or one that is hopelessly out of date)

You could have taken the time to write one paragraph for the newletter (instead of dreaming of that fantastic newsletter your clients would love to get...someday)

You could have called 3 clients just to say hello (instead of talking to the other agents in the office)

You could have thought through and written down only one thing that would improve and grow your business (instead of waiting until you had enough time to write an entire business plan)

You could have organized one file drawer (instead of having years of old paperwork that makes finding anything impossible)

You could have smiled and reached out to help the one person who needed it (making a deposit in your relationship account with this person...which will pay itself forward someday)

You could have. But did you? It isn't too late.

Written by Janet Guilbault, Mortgage Lending Expert Based Out of the San Francisco Bay Area