What Does It Mean To Be Fruitful Professionally?
- Dr. Dawn
- Apr 5, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 23
I have heard a lot about being fruitful as it pertains to marriage. Usually, the term being fruitful implies producing children who can contribute in positive ways to the family, community and/or society at large. When discussing being fruitful on a personal level, it can refer to living life fully and contributing to the benefit of others. However, I haven’t heard or read much about what it means to be fruitful professionally.
At first glance, one might infer being fruitful professionally means to make a financial profit, have power and influential relationships, or building a successful career and/or business. But, I think it means much more or at least goes beyond the outcome to produce a profit. It is your ability to build and manage your wealth, but also apply your income producing activities towards a greater goal. Its about how you sustain and how you contribute as a business owner or business entity to the lives or existence of others. The concept I developed about Professional Fruitfulness was inspired by T. Y. Lee, author of “A Life of Blessings” (this little but mighty, easy to read book is free if you want to read it). In the book, the author discuses three philosophies: building your wealth, managing your wealth, and protecting your wealth. What I understood was that there are both professional and personal actions, a growth mindset, and wisdom required to be professionally fruitful. Often, entrepreneurs and/or business owners, focus mainly on getting money through selling products and services, and brand image as the primary objective of success. However, true professional success is your ability to grow and produce exponentially through good judgement, compassion, patience, and generosity.
I will use the analogy of an apple tree to make my point. One apple seed, if planted in fertile soul, pruned, weeded, protected, fertilized, and gardened can produce, reproduce, and become an apple orchard. That goes beyond just becoming a tree and yielding a few apples. But, some entrepreneurs tend to look at their gains or outcomes only from the current results. Like thinking one tree that produce fruit is enough to be fruitful. You want to build and sustain enough to potentially have thousands if not millions of trees. So, what does it mean to be professionally fruitful, and how can we sustain and protect our fruitfulness once we begin to produce for exponential growth?
In business terms, you want your money to produce more money without your direct hands on intervention. Or, you want one client to lead to or generate hundreds of thousands of clients. Maybe it is having the right relationships, systems, and teams in place that allows you to focus on multiplying your outcomes not just adding to your results or preventing subtraction and division of your outcome. It can also mean giving back to help communities, new or just starting businesses, the youth, or environment. To me, being fruitful professionally is your ability to create and manage enough of your profit to put it to greater use where it not only sustains you and your household, or the business alone, but also others. When your business can sustain the lives of your employees, allow you to invest in philanthropic ventures, and make positive impact on large scales, that is professional fruitfulness. Meaning, an apple tree can feed your house, and maybe your neighbors. But, an apple orchard could possibly feed a state---or two. That is the difference. I know not all entrepreneurs have this vision. Some business owners are very happy building wealth or having singular success, impacting themselves and their inner circles. But, the irony is that when you spread the opportunities, think of others, and apply compassionate principles, you multiple the benefits of your results.
In order to reach that level of professional fruitfulness, you must have the right mindset about how you will earn a living, .how you will treat others, what your intentions are, and how you spend or use your profits. Then, you can begin to plant the right seeds and grow abundantly-even from meager beginnings. For instance,
A business that is compassionate towards people, the environment, and other living beings, and does not use their product or service with ill intentions to take advantage of consumer creates an ethical standard, which builds trust and longevity with your consumers, employees, partnerships and the community for which your company resides.
Being mindful, patient, and consistent, while building your business, is more valuable and beneficial than cutting corners and ignoring the impact rushing to enter the market could have on consumers or the environment.
Managing your profits wisely will ensure you will have a strong business. For example, if you were to compartmentalize your assets and profits into four quadrants, each representing 25% of your “fruits,” you might use one quadrant as income, another as enjoyment or fun, another for reinvestment and another for philanthropy or helping others.
Refraining from baseless or unnecessary spending, harmful actions, and wildly risky behaviors will help you maintain your fruits so that you can replant and reproduce. Likewise, avoiding shameless, unscrupulous people who look to take advantage of others or capitalize on the suffering and pains of others and developing relationships with other compassionate, mindful, strong business owners or affiliates will also help you protect your assets.
In summary, your professional fruitfulness relates to your behavior and mindset. Meaning, what you sow, you will reap; what you perceive you will believe and do. Your heart and hands must align and be in the right frame of generosity and selflessness for you to see your business grow and do great things or be great in the minds of others. It is unfortunate that many businesses have lost sight of this or never choose to apply these concepts. I think the world would be a magnificently different place if we focused on being fruitful in our professions and businesses. I believe we would all experience greater happiness and well-being when businesses apply compassionate and sustainable tools to be professionally fruitful, not just for their shareholders, but for all beings.
Coach Dawn helps high-profile public figures, entrepreneurial moms, and boss wives achieve SMART-R™ goals and work-life-self harmony, while growing profitable businesses. She will partner with you so that you can identify how to find solutions and resources to overcome your obstacles. Through Reid Ready Coaching, she also trains aspiring coaches or works with talent management teams on developing core coaching competencies to help prepare them for a rewarding coaching career. To learn more, visit: www.reidreadycoaching.com.
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