Pull the Weeds

Here's the frustrating thing about weeds:

They grow too.

Sometimes very well. 😂

They don't wait for permission.

They don't care what we intended to plant.

And if we aren't paying attention, they can occupy the same soil, use the same water, absorb the same nutrients, and compete for the same space as the thing we're actually trying to grow.

That's what makes them dangerous.

Everything growing isn't necessarily part of the garden.

I've been thinking about that as we move further into September.

We've talked about giving things room.

Getting more dirt.

Checking our backpacks.

Tending what we've planted.

All of those things matter.

But sometimes adding more resources isn't the answer.

Sometimes something is already consuming resources that shouldn't be there.

That's when we have to pull the weeds.

Our weeds don't always look obvious.

They can be distractions.

Unnecessary commitments.

Habits that no longer support where we're going.

Processes that take twice as long as they should.

Clutter.

Avoidance.

Overthinking.

Constantly checking something that doesn't require our attention.

Trying to manage someone else's assignment.

Saying yes because we don't want to disappoint someone.

Continuing something simply because we've already invested time in it.

Sometimes the weed is even something good.

That's harder to recognize.

A good opportunity can still compete with the assignment.

A good idea can still distract us from the idea we're supposed to execute.

A good organization can still require time we don't have in this season.

A good project can still become something we're maintaining because we're afraid to admit that our priorities changed.

Good doesn't automatically mean necessary.

Pulling weeds requires paying attention to what we're feeding.

Where is my time going?

Where is my energy going?

Where is my money going?

What keeps requiring attention but isn't producing anything connected to the assignment?

What am I maintaining simply because I've gotten used to maintaining it?

Those questions aren't always comfortable.

Because some weeds have been in the garden so long that they start looking like they belong there.

And sometimes we become attached to them.

We built the habit.

Created the system.

Accepted the responsibility.

Made the commitment.

But expanding consistency isn't just about becoming more consistent with everything.

It's becoming more consistent with the right things.

That means occasionally removing something.

Not angrily.

Not impulsively.

Not because every difficult thing is a weed.

Some things are difficult because they're growing.

Some assignments require patience.

Some relationships require work.

Some responsibilities are simply responsibilities.

We need discernment.

A weed is something competing for resources without supporting what we're intentionally trying to grow.

Once we identify it, we still have to pull it.

Knowing something is distracting us doesn't create focus.

Knowing a commitment no longer fits doesn't clear the calendar.

Knowing a process isn't working doesn't improve the system.

Awareness is the beginning.

Action creates the space.

Maybe today we don't need another planner.

Another strategy.

Another resource.

Another hour.

Maybe we need to look closely at what already occupies the garden.

Keep what's growing.

Tend what's important.

Give the right things room.

And when you recognize something consistently taking resources away from the assignment—

pull the weeds.