A Plan for the Next Seed

I want to close this with something I mentioned at the very beginning and I’ve stressed several times along the way. I’m not looking for sympathy from any of the adversities I’ver shared, not a single one. In fact, I don’t even want it. This has been one of the most awkward things I’ve ever done, but the two conversations I had in a single day as I was initially mulling the idea left me with a conviction that I needed to push through - whether I wanted to or not. The sole purpose driving all of this has been to provide a real-world look at the challenges we’ve faced over the years, most of which weren’t extreme and likely things you could directly connect to situations you’ve been through, so you could sift back through any remaining memory of those to find any previously hidden seed that could lead to your equal or greater opportunity.

The idea behind Making the Best of YOUR Bad Situation starts with leading from where you are already standing. Doing that is as simple as following the six steps we’ve just walked through and running them on each real scenario you’re faced with. 

I closed each chapter prior to this with a list of five questions geared at helping you “mine” the seeds from whatever experience you connected to the ones I shared. While I am about to give you five more questions, the “homework” will require more. This time, my challenge for you is to build a working place, not just some prompt in a journal that you may or may not ever look at again. This should fit on a single page. More importantly, it should be something you revisit over and over again, each time you’re fighting through any kind of adversity.

Your final questions for building a plan finding your next seed:

1. What bad situation, current or unfinished, will you run the six steps on first? 
2. What seed is in it, and which Hill attribute will you have to use on purpose to nurture it? 
3. What decision and what simple plan will you make this week? 
4. Who will feel the harvest if you sow more than required, and who will hold you to it? 
5. Thirty days from now, what will be different in how you lead from where you already stand? 

I referenced targeted reflection at the beginning of this journey and I’ve hit on it multiple times along the way. I’ve also shared how much I struggle to do it because I don’t want that to be your excuse for choosing not to build it into your routine. There’s no rule that says you have to like it. If you’ve accepted the responsibility for leading, the people around you are counting on you. That targeted reflection has been key along the way, but now it’s time for a written plan. The next adversity will not wait for a cleaner season, not for me or for you. Write your plan today. Share it with one person who will ask you about it in thirty days - and thirty days after that. Then go lead from where you’re already standing and be intentional about Making the Best of YOUR Bad Situations!