Digging Deep

One will hear this term often in running.” Dig Deep”. Just about every coach exhorts runners to "dig deep." Digging deep not only means working hard but working your hardest. It means completing workouts no matter how tired you may feel. It means reaching into your heart and finding the will to try to get to the next level of excellence.

This also happens in practice runs. Especially the longer kind. The human mind can only push the body so much before the mind starts getting distress signals to stop the torture the body is going through. This is a natural response and more often than not should be heard. But when you are breaking barriers, the need to be deaf becomes paramount. Deaf to the voice and to the pain. This is when the inner voice shouts out to the mind, to dig deep into the reserves. When we dig, we are basically finding the deep roots of stamina which have been embedded over time.

This brings me to an interesting story of the Bamboo tree.

Like any plant, growth of the Chinese Bamboo Tree requires the basic element of water, fertile soil, sunshine. In its first year, there are no visible signs of activity. In the second year, again, no growth can be seen above the soil. The earth is bald like Shetty’s pate. The third, and the fourth year come and go, and yet no signs of any life above the ground or subterranean. It seems as if all the effort is going to waste.

The patience starts getting tested and we begin to wonder if our efforts (caring, water, etc.) will ever be rewarded. This becomes especially pertinent in the “Now’ times. Immediate gratification vs nurtured patience. The need to accomplish now and reap the rewards has been a social construct which has created a stronghold in our current society.

Finally, after 4 years of sustenance being provided, in the fifth year – a miracle unfolds. The Bamboo tree grows. And does it grow. It propels itself to lofty heights, dwarfing even the biggest of trees. The Chinese Bamboo Tree grows 80 feet in just six weeks! This is data and not perception.

This phenomenal growth begets many questions.

Does the Chinese Bamboo Tree really grow 80 feet in six weeks?

Was it merely the case of the tree lying dormant for four only to grow exponentially in the fifth?

Or is there something more than what meets the eye. Is there another plausible explanation?

By any chance, was the tree growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond?

The answer seems obvious. It was making it foundations strong for the exponential growth to be supported.

Had the tree not developed a strong unseen foundation it could not have sustained its life as it grew and thrived in all its glory. The same principle is true for Leaders. Leaders, who patiently toil towards worthwhile dreams and goals, building strong character while overcoming adversity and challenge, grow the strong internal foundation to handle success. They create the organisation robustness for exponential growth.

The Chinese Bamboo Tree is a perfect allegory to our own experience with personal growth and change . It is never easy. It’s slow to show any progress. It’s frustrating and unrewarding at times.

What can we learn from the Bamboo Tree?

Can we stay focused and continue to believe in what we are doing even when we don’t see immediate results? In a culture driven by instant gratification – this is our biggest challenge.

When runners are trying to dig in deep, it is not merely the will power which allows him or her to propel forward. Years have gone into creating that extra reserve of energy and strength. Nothing worthwhile comes easy; and if it does, it does not gratify the fulfillment we seek.

So is the case with Path breaking Leaders, they have grown their roots, developed knowledge, skills and fortitude over the years, the manifestation of it is not in the near future but more in the long term.

There actions were not determined by the prospect of easy or immediate results.