The world works by principles. One of such profound principles is the law of sowing and reaping. Seed time and harvest. Action and reaction. Cause and effect. Effort and results. Whatever name you call it, the basic principle remains the same.
Contrary to popular opinion, success, to a reasonable extent, is predictable. For instance, to reap a life of success in your 30’s, you should’ve sown in your 20’s. You can also predict your future, based on your current activities.
Generally speaking, studies have proven that for success to be noticeable and sustainable, it’d take between 5 to 10 years of consistent work. Quite a bit of literature has been written on the subject, including Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers. Therefore, it is not wise to envy the success of others in their “reaping” years, as you probably did not observe all the hard work and sacrifices they put in during their “sowing” years.
I seldom allow myself to get into the rabbit hole of comparison. I learned a while back that the concept of opportunity cost spares no one. For everything we gain, we lose something; and for everything we lose, we gain something. So, when I chose to go to college for 8 years instead of pursuing a career in music, I gave up the chances of becoming a world acclaimed musician. It wouldn’t be wise of me, at the end of my college career, to then envy those who pursued their passion for music while I studied to become an engineer. We are all sowing seeds. But the wise sow seeds based on the harvest they desire. They live with their desired outcome in mind, regardless of the outcomes they observe in the lives of others.
The future is fluid. It’s not in a solid state. Each of us is designing our future by our present actions. Perhaps the role of prayer is to protect our harvest from pestilence.
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Ugo is an energetic and dynamic youth leader and the president of the nonprofit NEU Gen Leaders. He is the author of 2 books – Secrets of Academic Excellence and The NEU Era. He can be reached at [email protected].