Sowing and Reaping
by Vicki Simons
(USA)
I am fascinated by the concept of sowing and reaping. Jim Rohn did an excellent job of telling the parable of the sower and the soils here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCmnng8gmoQ.
In 2006, I heard David Jeremiah talk about "The Laws of the Harvest", which he summarized as follows:
* The Law of Investment: you reap
if you sow;
* The Law of Identity: you reap
what you sow;
* The Law of Increase: you reap
more than you sow; and
* The Law of Interval: you reap
later than you sow.
An explanation of The Law of Increase comes from 2 Corinthians 9:6:
"Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully."
In Og Mandino's "The Greatest Salesman in the World," we learn that of the ten scrolls, Scroll III was "I Will Persist Until I Succeed." (
link)
This isn't to say that we should keep beating our heads against brick walls. To me, the most meaningful part of Darren Hardy's January 2014 blog post (no longer online) was this:
"Solution. Start with what people want. Don’t invent something no one cares about. You have to add value where pain or a need exists. Then change the game by providing the solution (e.g., Netflix vs. Blockbuster, Starbucks vs. Folgers, Pandora vs. radio)."
The original parable (in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8) is spiritually directed. But it is important in trucking, too. Questions you can ask yourself are:
* What am I sowing?
* How am I sowing?
* Where am I sowing?
Even if you are an ambitious sower and you have excellent seed,
* the birds are going to get some seed;
* the hot weather is going to get some seed; and
* the thorns are going to get some seed.
Your job as an ambitious sower is to
keep sowing.
Eventually, your excellent seed will fall on good soil.
Ask yourself questions like these:
* What can I uniquely bring to the trucking industry?
* What kind of attitude do I demonstrate with my driver manager, those who serve truckers, and the shippers and receivers with whom I interact?
* If someone measured the service I rendered, what grade would it get -- and am I satisfied with that?
* Am I investing at least part of my proceeds into things that will eventually grow in value over time?
Remember: You will use every day. How will you use it: for good or for ill?
How are your habits serving you?
Do you need new habits? Only you can decide.
As long as you're a trucker, I encourage you to let the sowing and reaping cycle continue profitably.
