Top 7 Tips For "Planting in Dry Season" For Professional And Personal Success

Today’s workplace is unpredictable. Career changes brought by downsizing, business mergers, technological advances, deregulation and less restrictions on international trade regulation have become part of our lives. To survive and thrive in the present turbulent workplace, one has to prepare with foresight rather than hindsight. How can we prepare for the unknown? How can we prepare so that we can be favored by chance?

I learned the importance of honing skills, knowledge and abilities in my youth. In Kangundo, Kenya, there are two seasons, rainy and dry. Farmers plow and plant corn during the dry season when the soil is loose and easy to turn. With the corn seeds in the ground, farmers know their crop will germinate when rain falls. Planting in the dry season also ensures that the corn seeds are not unearthed by squirrels because it impossible for them to tell which spots have seeds and which do not when the soil is dry.

This metaphor applies to many aspects of life. When we do things because we are forced to, it is like planting after the rain falls. The soil is heavy, and "social squirrels" may interfere with our progress. Anxiety, panic or illness may set in and curtail our success. It is easier to learn the skills you need for your next position while you are at ease with your current one. Unspectacular preparation is the springboard of spectacular performance. Crops that germinate shortly after rainfall are planted in dry season.

If you repair your roof when it is sunny, you won’t have to worry about getting wet while trying to do it in the rain. The future depends on the sacrifice you make today. Plant when the "soil" is loose, and "social squirrels" are unable to unearth your efforts.

Are you planting in the dry season for whatever call or mission you have in this world? If not, what is stopping you?

Here are seven questions to inspire you to "Plant in Dry Season" For Professional and Personal Success.

1. What do you want to be doing in two, five or ten years from now? Is it the same job, same team?
   
   
2. Why do you think you will need to do what you want to do in the future? Is it because it will be a dream come true?
   
   
3. Ask several co-workers, teammates, friends and family members what they think you are good at. How does that compare with what you think you are good at? Did they point out new areas you feel might be great assets for you in the future?
   
   
4. What skills, knowledge and abilities do you have now? Can they make you marketable two, five or ten years from now?
   
   
5. How can you hone those skills that you will need down the line? Can you go back to school or attend professional training now before you need to use those skills?
   
   
6. What obstacles do you foresee that may thwart your efforts to plant in "dry season?" How can you overcome them?
   
   
7. Who can help you "plant those seeds of your talents, gifts and experiences?" Remember, besides individual salvation, the best gift we have from God is one another. Use the experience, talents, and if you can in a good way, the funds of others to plant in "dry season."
   
   BONUS TIP
   
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   • When can you start "planting?" How will you know is time to let the seeds germinate? How will you measure the fruits of your efforts? How will your efforts benefit others?
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Vincent Muli Wa Kituku, a native of Kenya, is a motivational speaker/storyteller, author, columnist, adjunct university professor and seminar leader. Kituku is also founder and principal consultant of Kituku & Associates in Boise, ID 83707. Contact him at (208) 939-7216 or email him at www.kituku.com