Why My Grass Is Greener

I came home one day after a great client meeting and I noticed that my front lawn was looking a little yellow.

I thought it must be the sun bearing down on it, so I proceeded to check the water and everything seemed fine. I even brought out my hose and watered it for a little bit.

The next day, what I had thought was a watering problem turned out to be something else. The grass turned brown and it seemed like it was dying or worse dead. Now, I do have a gardener who comes in once a week and tends to it, but this was Tuesday. 

I did not want to just call him and decided to take matters into my own hands. I knew what I wanted, a nice fresh bed of grass. Plus, I wanted the satisfaction of seeing it grow. It would make it more meaningful.

I brought out my rake and proceeded to pull out the dead grass. It took a while, I was sweating but it felt good. After a little more time had gone by, I thought of giving up. It seemed futile, why should I waste time on this.

I thought to myself, the gardener knows this stuff. I do pay him, he really should be doing this. I went inside for a break, had a glass of water, and decided to have a go at it again. I really wanted to see the end of this.

I came back and finally completed both sides of my lawn. I was tired and exhausted, but this was only the beginning. It was almost like launching the MVP of a broken product. Little did I know what else laid in store for me. :-)

I brought out grass seeds and the composite. I proceeded to lay the composite first, then the seeds, and then the composite again. Next, I covered all of this with the same dead grass I had pulled out. 

My theory being that as the dead grass decomposed not only would it provide cover to the seeds, but it would also become a source of fertilizer.

When my wife came home and saw the mess outside, she thought I'd ruined it. She felt all we needed to do was to increase the amount of water for a few days and the grass would've grown back. Or we could have asked the gardener to take care of it. 

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Have I REALLY ruined our nice yard? Will we now be worse off without the grass for a while? Had I created a mess? I was a monster. All of our neighbors' front yards looked great. I was full of self-doubt.

She was right, that might have been ONE course of action, but I believed in mine. She ended up being supportive of me and was only bothered about the messy composite on top of the seeding. I assured her that the mess would decompose. She was skeptical, but let me do what I wanted to.

So I made it my personal goal to check on the grass and the little sprouting every day. During the afternoons, I came out with a hose and added a little more water to the seedlings. 

And sure enough, in a week I almost had a full lawn. I didn't use any magical growth grass, and I didn't spend money on fancy seedings, etc. It was just pure execution.

As I watered the grass each afternoon, I kept thinking about how this related back to me. 

Before I ventured out on my own, I had a nice job, great pay, and great position, but it seemed like the grass was dying. Then one day, I realized that the grass was brown and I had to uproot myself.

My wife had the same thought process as I did and told me so. We discussed how if I'd continued to water the grass or worked with my gardener the grass would still be green. 

But now, the green grass in my front lawn gives me a sense of satisfaction (and pride) that I wouldn't have achieved otherwise. It has been a great example for the kids as well.

As entrepreneurs, we face these same dilemmas :

- Should we just water the plants? Or should we pull them from the roots and replant? 

- Are we prepared for the emotional and physical labor that will be required?

- Are we able to stand up for our ideas no matter how stupid they might seem to others?

- How are we going to deal with alternative ideas that achieve the same value/goal?

- Are we able to execute & make it work no matter the odds or the effort?

- Are we able to innovate/pivot to increase the chances of success?

- Can we see the goal? Do we wallow in self-doubt, if so, how are we going to come out of it? 

- Last but not least, WHY? WHY in the world would we want to go through the hassle? The hassle of replanting, reseeding, watering, adjusting, standing up, taking action, and accepting responsibility? 

Do we want the satisfaction? Or are we just craving to have a better lawn? Are you a problem solver? Or are you just wanting to flaunt that lawn to your neighbors? Are you wanting to be a role model to others ? Or do things on your own terms ? Is it freedom that you want or do you want to enjoy a great lifestyle ?

Whatever your motivation is, it better be a very strong one. So strong that nothing can keep you from achieving what you set out to accomplish. That is the only way your grass will be greener than mine :-)

What do you think?