The Bonsai Principle: A Study in Patience

A few years ago, I attended a bonsai workshop by To Be a Bonsai with my cybersecurity specialist sibling, Rui Miguel, and my wildlife photographer friend, Nolan.

We were each given a baby, three-year-old juniper bonsai, barely 20 cm tall. The tree had grown naturally, untrimmed, crowned with a verdant canopy of leaves. For the next two hours, we learned about bonsais, how to trim and shape them, and how to treat and care for them. Gently snipping off twigs, wrapping wires around branches and slowly - oh, so slowly - bending them into different shapes, I contemplated the point of maintaining bonsais.

It could take years—sometimes decades—to cultivate and shape them into elegant sculptures. My baby juniper will only look the way I envision in 30 years. I'll be nearing mandatory retirement age. That's a long time to wait.

That, dear reader, was the point. A beautiful bonsai, as with a sculpted body or a healthy financial portfolio, only emerges with planning, persistence, and - most importantly - patience.  

It takes time - days, months, even years - to see progress. Bend a bonsai branch too much, too quickly, and it breaks. But bend it a little at a time, over time, and you'll be rewarded.

I've applied the Bonsai Principle to my personal life:

• Deciding what shape my future will be;
• Trimming away excess activities that don't serve me or my goals;
• Working towards my goals every day; and
• Waiting, patiently, as the future I'm working towards takes shape.

You, dear reader, can also apply the Bonsai Principle to your life. Choose the future you desire, narrow your time and energy to pursuits that will get you closer to that future, and put in the work every day. Let's embrace the art of patience, and understand that achieving our goals will unfold with time.

Until next week,

Ric.

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