Goals Are Meaningless If You Don't Do This

A few years ago we planted a number of daylily plants in front of our home. They were only about 6 inches tall at the time, but now are over two feet high with multiple blooms.

It turns out that these plants are not only hardy, they bloom every day...hence the name; and almost daily, I go out with my morning coffee to dead-head the expired flowers; sometimes twice a day.

I don't want to give you the wrong impression, that I'm a gardener...I'm not. In fact I chose these plants because they need very little help.

Except, that they need to be deadheaded daily.

Kathy and I went away on the weekend, and on our return, I saw right away that I had my work cut out for me. As soon as I could, I cleaned up the dead blooms and got them back on track.

Just like growing successful day lilies, if you want to reach any goal, you have to do more than just set the goal; you must decide the regular habits that they will require, and ideally ahead of time.

If I don't deadhead my day lilies daily, they can begin to look unhealthy and bloom less. So my regular habit of pulling off the dead blooms helps them thrive.

And that's the point...if you want to thrive, in your marriage, your career, your finances or health, then decide ahead of time the regular habits you will engage in.

This is how I approached planting day lilies.

1. Research: I spent some time learning about various plant options based on my goal of little effort with maximum result. You need to pause long enough to decide what is really important to you, to decide the goals you want to set.
2. Action: After choosing the plant I wanted I purchased them, planted them and watered them. What are the next steps you will need to take in order to pursue your goal?
3. Set Realistic expectations: during the first season, the lilies didn't grow that much. But I plucked dead blooms as regularly as needed. They have doubled in size every year now, and as I've said before, results usually take longer than we would like.
4. Embrace the Process. I continue the habits that help my plants thrive. I weed and deadhead blooms on an almost daily basis. This takes about 10 minutes at most. But regular habits over an extended period of time will bring results...no mater the goal you have.

My day lilies are thriving today, even in this incredible heat. Maybe these steps can help you too.

Feeling stuck? Maybe I can help.

Until next time - Dan