BETTER ROOT = BETTER FRUIT
Winning in any important area of life requires high-level performance, consistent behavior, and disciplined decisions, and there’s not one of us - if we’re serious about becoming our best - who isn’t working or least wishing to make those things a reality in the areas that matter most to us. But it’s important for each of us to recognize that the stuff everyone sees - our performance, our behavior, and our decisions - are a byproduct of the mindset, the attitude, and the perspective that no one sees.
This is the way all living things work. Take a tree, for instance. The fruit a tree produces - what we see from it on the outside - is a reflection of its health on the inside. A strong and healthy root system will produce some impressive produce. But for a tree that’s not producing effectively, it’s not the fruit that’s generally the problem. The fruit is just a symptom - the outward sign of a flawed internal system. Fixing the fruit problem starts with fixing the root problem.
The same can be said for each of us. What we’re showing the world on the outside - for better or worse - is typically a reflection of our health on the inside. No one can see our mindset, our attitude, or our perspective, and yet they are the primary determiners of our experience today. A weak and fragile mindset will produce a weak and fragile performance, but a strong and resilient mindset will produce a strong and resilient performance. A negative attitude and a selfish perspective will produce negative behavior and selfish decisions. But a winning attitude and a positive perspective will produce winning behavior and positive decisions. It’s really not rocket science. Being great on the outside starts with being great on the inside. Better root = better fruit.
What that really means is that if we’re working or wishing to make high-level performance, winning behavior, and disciplined decisions a part of our experience today, then we better recognize where it all begins. Human nature encourages us to accept the path of least resistance, and when it comes to our mindset, our attitude, and our perspective? Weak and negative and selfish is, for many of us, the default setting. It's the easiest possible approach. It takes zero effort, zero resolve, and zero discipline, which is probably why so many people end up choosing it each day.
Strength and positivity and resilience, on the other hand, don’t come naturally. Cultivating those things requires some work. Instead of simply allowing our mind to settle for the path of least resistance, we have to intentionally choose a healthier and more productive approach. We have to weed out the negativity and the selfishness, and fertilize our mind with courage and belief and confidence. We have to create the conditions for growth, and do the hard work it takes to foster an environment that produces behaviors that win.
Whatever it is that you’ve got in front of you today, it’s important to recognize that both your success and your struggle begin in the same place: your mind. If you’ve been struggling, then see clearly that the fruit - the performance, the behavior, the decisions - aren’t actually the problem. Those are just the symptoms - the outward signs of a flawed internal system. You’ve got to start by getting your mind right. So take a minute today to press pause. Weed out the unhealthy and unproductive thoughts. Cultivate a strong and resilient mindset, a winning attitude, and a positive perspective for the day ahead, and prepare your inside to produce some new success on the outside. The formula is simple: better root = better fruit.
