Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap…

Derek Blair, Partner

A farmer understands the significance of time.

There’s a quote generally attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson that I often share with new business owners, especially those I describe as ‘Corporate Refugees’.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.”

The ‘harvest’ is easy to measure: a signed contract, an invoice paid. It’s validating. But in the early days, harvests can be few and far between, and focusing only on them leads to despair.

The real work is planting seeds. It’s the conversation with an old colleague. It’s taking the time to write down your process. It’s the afternoon you spend figuring out how to manage your cash flow. These actions don’t feel like wins… but they are the entire foundation of your future business.

When you leave the corporate world, you go from being a harvester of someone else’s well-tended field to being a pioneering farmer with a patch of stony ground. Your first job isn’t to reap, it’s to clear the stones and plant. It requires a completely different mindset, and a different kind of patience.

Given time, and careful tending, the harvest will come.

What seeds are you planting this week that won’t be harvested for months?