Do you grow vegetables? We do, in the narrow corridor fronting our very urban apartment. We grow them in pots because there’s no space otherwise. We can’t grow very much, of course, but we grow the vegetables in order to get some hands-on experience. There are some things you can learn from growing your own vegetables.

One is that if you don’t use pesticides, you have to constantly remove snails and other crawlies, or they’ll eat up your veggies. Another is that you don’t need to pull up the entire plant when it’s time for harvesting, you just need to cut off the main portion and leave the stump to continue growing. That way, you reduce growing time and get more vegetable for your efforts. You also have the advantage of having older plants that produce seeds for your next crop. Vegetables produce a lot of seed! We’ve been using the seed and that’s one reason why the plants all grow in an uneven manner. That doesn’t matter at all if you’re growing the vegetables for your own consumption, and it’s probably something that society could use a mindset change with. Finally, you learn that vegetables grow best when you water them constantly, a little bit at a time. There’s no depth of soil to speak of with pots, so “dry farming” in order to get them to grow deeper roots isn’t relevant, and you don’t need that when you’re growing vegetables, anyway!

Yes, there are Daily Disciplines to be had when growing your own vegetables! Do you have similar Daily Disciplines when it comes to growing your people? This might not sound very nice, but people are somewhat similar to vegetables. People need constant daily attention, don’t give me that “Responsible Adult” thing, they do, even when you’re leaving them alone to do what they’re supposed to be doing! People need a little bit of water everyday. Not too much, don’t drown them, but water them frequently a little at a time throughout the day. If you do that on a daily basis, you’ll find that your people will start being more fruitful on a regular basis, and you’ll all enjoy that, because we all naturally want to get better at what we do, don’t we?

So, remember, as a leader, it’s not about being Daredevil. It’s practicing the Daily Disciplines. Go get ’em, DD!