Jessie Richards We often hear criticisms about people or organizations that “just pick the low hanging fruit” as though it’s a bad thing…
But the reality is, the low-hanging fruit needs to be picked first. Not only is it more likely to be free of hornets, but if you try to pick through the top foliage first, those upper fruits could fall and bruise the fruit on the lower limbs.
Plus, the initial easy picking of that delectable fruit is what inspires you, and maybe more importantly your friends and family, to come back and brave the hornets nests and heights as a team.
And your life is like that too.
To reach too far beyond your capacity without the necessary steps on your ladder can cause damage to your reputation, which you’ve also taken a long time to grow.
Alternatively, laying the foundation for your success by picking all the tasks within reach will make it easier and less risky to reach above.
And if you realize you still need a little help, people are more likely to come to your aid or give you high quality advice because they see you putting in the work.
With every delectable fruit you can pick, you gain more and more confidence in the taste and quality of the rest of what’s on the tree, and more assured that the specific cultivar you’re growing is the right one.
The more you pick the more you learn about how to wiggle a branch here to make it grab another, and soon enough you’ve acquired a smorgasbord of skills, many which are highly transferable and only tangentially related to fruit picking.
And any other goal you want to accomplish is the same.
Starting at the bottom and picking all the easy things first isn’t lazy or a way to avoid doing the harder things, it’s absolutely necessary for learning and leading.
Every time you pick the small thing within your reach, you’re presented opportunities to talk about what you’re doing and why. As people see that, they tend to present you with new opportunities by way of advice or introductions or resource suggestions.
Soon enough, you’ve built all the skills and contacts to achieve your goal, and you’ve acquired a lot of transferable knowledge to achieve your next goal, too.
So grab the low hanging fruit, and let it’s sweet serenade create the momentum you need to get the rest of the job done.
