A short video of a tomato’s life cycle, and what symbolism!
A beautiful, juicy, delicious slice was cut off and committed to the earth.
Tragedy? Nightmare? Catastrophe? Only to an impatient eye.
By day five, all that remained was rotten mush, but already on day six, through Death, Life sprouts with the help of thin white roots.
Until then, the natural process had been hidden (if not for the glass). But by day nine, there’s no need to guess anymore: a green stem is above the ground.
Business and personal renewal happen in exactly the same way. Through my work with founders, I’ve seen this many times.
Transformations are difficult because their initial stage is hidden. You bury a seed, water it, and stare at the dirty soil. But the days go by, and the result is zero. The temptation is either to dig it up or say screw it and walk away.
My job is to explain the “underground logic” to the founder, strengthen his faith in the implicit, and most importantly, keep him from devaluing the first sprout.
It gets easier from there: along with the stem of Novelty, the founder’s passion, boldness, and confidence grow, spreading to everyone else.
By the way, dreams perform the function of glass for observing the underground stage. Any change first takes place in a person’s psyche and then becomes embodied in his or her real life.
The next time you start losing patience or hope, remember the tomato’s renewal. The improvements aren’t visible, but they’re there.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.
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