Did you know Aloe plants only produce blooms after they’ve matured (typically after 4 years)?

Stick with me, this comes full circle for my fellow freelancers.

I was taking a workday pause on a Wednesday afternoon and realized my Aloe plant had shot up a bloom. It’s not a flower per se, but more a succulent shaped like a flower.

I hadn’t seen that before with my plant, so I did what most people who moonlight as a gardener do… I googled it!

Turns out that once Aloe plants reach maturity they bloom during winter.

So after about 4 years of growth, I *should* get a bloom annually.

Reflecting on this natural cycle, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the journey of individuals, especially those navigating the gig economy or budding entrepreneurs.

Just like the Aloe, sometimes we need to allow ourselves the time to mature and let our roots delve deeper before we can blossom into our fullest selves.

This rings especially true when it comes to personal productivity.

As individuals juggling various roles and responsibilities, it’s crucial to give ourselves the permission to grow first:

Grow with boundary setting…
Grow in learning what task management style works for us…
Grow in what times and days we like to work…
Grow in communication cadences…
Grow in learning how to balance it all…
Grow in knowing what softwares we like…
Grow in our finances and how to set ourselves up for success…

Grow in our skills and what we want to offer our clients…

Only once we’ve cultivated confidence in these areas can we truly optimize our productivity and, metaphorically speaking, shoot up our own flowers.

However, growth isn’t instantaneous.

It’s a gradual process that requires dedication, resilience, and sometimes, embracing failure as part of the journey and learning from it!

So, let’s take a leaf out of nature’s book and afford ourselves the time and space to cultivate a sturdy foundation before striving for optimization. After all, just like the Aloe, the most beautiful blooms are worth the wait.