Grow yourself like a plant...

This morning I went to Monument Circle and picked up a plant to help brighten my office. The plant is free and is used to celebrate National Indoor Plant Week. While walking over in a group, I was talking with a colleague and we discussed our backgrounds, interests and what led us both to the positions we hold as neither of us have a "traditional" background for our areas of work.

On the way back I began thinking about professional growth, how humans work, and how our society has become accustomed to everything moving at a fast pace. As humans we have need to grow and develop --- most people are constantly striving to improve themselves. However, because we are used to getting things immediately, having Google and other technology at our fingertips, many of us also expect immediate results in our professional growth. In doing so, we struggle to really invest the time in pursuing our learning goals.

The plant (see below), will flourish if you take the time to pot it, water it, and care for it. If you treat your education and professional development like you would treat the plant, you will be more likely to flourish yourself. You have to set aside time to focus on your learning goals, and not give up after a couple days or even a couple months. If you don't, you'll likely struggle to develop yourself in the way you'd like.

Now, I'm off to try and take my own advice.