Trees really are amazing. It seems impossible to  think that something so big and strong can grow from such a small seed. I think because it takes so many years for a tree to grow, we often miss the magnitude of what an amazing transformation is happening. If we had a time-lapse super-sped-up to watch the growth of a tree I bet we’d start appreciating their incredible growth much quicker.

Trees are great for metaphors and analogies. They are used to help explain many of the most famous stories told. I’m using them in this piece to help illustrate a valuable piece of knowledge I picked up recently at a seminar held by Joe Pane, a successful business and life coach, in Melbourne, about personal growth, that I found a fantastically simple to grasp.

Joe said, “Like everything in nature, you are either growing, or dying.”

This really resonated with me as someone interested in personal development, passing on valuable and inspirational lessons to others. But it also immediately brought people in my life to mind.

Like a tree, you are either growing – expanding your horizons, learning new things, adding to your skills, bringing value to people, taking action…. Living.

Or

Like a tree, or you dying – shrinking into yourself, no longer learning new things, not expanding but withering, losing your skills, and desire to move…. Dying.

Like a tree your growth may initially be impossible for others to see externally, but if you continue to live, learn, expand and take action, the growth will happen, and internally you will be thriving, until one day others too will see you as the mighty tree you have grown into.