When I was a child, I spent much of my time inventing small games to play in the fields surrounding my family home. This was before the advent of console video games. In later years, I would find myself playing Asteroids, Pitfall, Maze-a-Tron, and, of course, Pong. However, during these early days, I was left to my own devices with nothing more than what tools I could pilfer from my father’s garage and endless fields of sagebrush, anthills, debris from a bygone era, and canals. Yes, I lived in what was known as the Grand Valley in Colorado. The irrigation system there was made primarily of a canal system that diverted the Colorado River to provide water for the farmers using the rich fertile soil to grow a variety of crops. There was also a small amount of water diverted through our neighborhood. The little stream flowed right down a small hill and created a ditch system that ran to the south of our house. Many households would buy small pumps and pull water out of this ditch to water their lawns. This practical purpose of this small water diversion created a myriad of games that I could invent. Catching crawfish was a common pastime; collecting asparagus was fun for a while until my mom made me eat it – yuck. I floated homemade boats down this small canal and would improvise aerial assaults against my small fleet with dirt clods. However, the best game was learning how to divert the water myself. Reflecting back, this must have caused some consternation with the homeowners nearby, but I figured out that I could also manipulate the course of water flow by creating my own system of dams, aqueducts, and canal systems. Being a small boy, my goal was not to irrigate the weeds in the field nearby but to see if I could divert enough water to surround a small castle that I built or to flood out a nest of pesky red ants that would haunt my small farming settlement. It was during these long summer days, left by myself, that I learned the practicalities of managing the flow of water. I also learned how water behaves when introduced to new ground.
I have often gone back in time, recalling what I learned when attempting to control the behavior of this water flow. I have noticed the same patterns when navigating my own course in life through success and failure, which leads me to the conclusion that success flows like water. When water is diverted into a new area, where a course has not been determined yet, there are some interesting mechanics at play, and they can be helpful when evaluating your own attempts to plot a new course in life, whether that be a business venture, new career, new relationship, or other grand ambition.
The Beginning Stages – Chaos
When water is first diverted into an open field, the water will spread rapidly, finding all the nooks, cracks, and depressions. There will be many, and as water fills one, it will spread to another. This creates a delta effect as the water begins to saturate and soak the entire area. This is very chaotic and difficult to predict where the majority of the water flow will begin to coalesce. This is much like what happens when we embark on a new effort. Our initial idea seemed like a good one; I want to divert my energy into this new and exciting direction. However, after doing so, the situation becomes unpredictable and chaotic. The way you thought it would happen is not exactly what does happen. You find yourself trying out anything and everything you can to discover success on your new course. You are saying yes to everything and diving into any opportunity that presents itself. You become spread out, stretched over a wider field, and struggle to remain focused on any particular path because you have not yet figured out what will be successful. This is the same as water. It spreads everywhere, chaotic, with no defined course.
The Next Stage – Resistance
However, the water will begin to collect in a particular area. This will always be the lowest point in the field, and there the water will begin to pool. The flow of water will appear to slow down as water slowly collects and fills the lower depression. The water will stop flowing downhill because it has now met with resistance. Usually, a rise in ground elevation, rocks, or other debris is now preventing the water from flowing. However, this is the lowest point in the surrounding area, so the water begins to collect. If the water flow is continuous, the energy sustained, then it is here where a reservoir of water will begin to build. This is the same in our new attempt to find success in the unknown. We eventually will find that our energy naturally starts to collect in a particular area. For some reason, our initial idea and our beginning efforts have sustained in this particular direction. However, we are now facing resistance. We understood and expected to face obstacles in our journey, and here we have the first major one. We are in a moment of hesitancy
. We feel stagnant, like all progress is being lost. We are in a situation where we can give up and shut our energy toward this effort down, or we can continue to build our strength. To be successful, we choose the latter; we build and build and push against this resistance. This is a tough time, and always takes longer than expected. This is the nervous time because we desperately need success, but we just cannot seem to overcome this initial resistance, yet all the time our reservoir is building and building.
The Break Through – A Path is Found
There will come a point where the water saturates whatever obstacle stands in its way. The water will either overflow this obstacle, or the obstacle will give way, and then the water will break free in a sudden rush of energy. The water will usually come with enough force to carve a channel or pathway leading from this point down the path of least resistance. This momentum will be impossible to contain, and now you will have a fully flowing river of water passing consistently through this new break. The water will continue rushing in this manner until it finds the next major obstacle, or perhaps another flat range of possibility, and become chaotic again. However, for this period of time, the water will flow freely and easily as it carves a permanent course through the new landscape. This is the moment that all successful people relish and can indeed become quite addicting. The rush of exhilaration and excitement that comes from a sudden breakthrough. Clients start buying in earnest, your messaging hits a tipping point, your new relationship takes on deeper meaning. This is the reward for continuously pressing against the obstacle in your way. Now your momentum is such that it is impossible to stop. If you were smart, you planned this ahead of time, knowing the breakthrough would come, and now you find your new idea filling the empty space that was not occupied before. The work is easier at this stage, fast-paced, and exciting.
The Next Obstacle – The Realization and the Split
Then you come to the next obstacle. This one might be even worse than the one previous. Sometimes it could be so daunting that you realize that your forward progress on this current path is impossible. This happens with water flow in new ground all the time. There is the knowledge that with enough resources and enough time, the obstacle will be overcome, but now you have come to the realization. This is the way it is going to be, forward progress until the inevitable time comes when obstacles will be larger than the flow of our water, and our patience has to overcome. The realization comes that the destination was never the goal; rather, this is the journey. This is the way. Either enjoy this process or get out now while you have enough energy to do so. When water hits this type of scenario, a few things happen. The original source of the water diversion can cut off the source of water, and then the water will just sit there stagnant and dry up over time. The other option is that the water will build, slowly over time until opportunities arise for the water to find small escape points. This often is the cause for multiple water paths to emerge, or what you might refer to as a split. This happens in life as well, when extreme difficulty is faced, we often need to change course, and all of the success, the people, the momentum may not go with us. Instead, we find ourselves taking a few stragglers and heading off on a new tangent, a new course filled with surprises, excitement, and even more obstacles. This is the way.
The Merger – The End Result for Most
Your journey, the new path you carved, eventually comes to an end. A fate that all entrepreneurs know well. They come to accept it, and so should we on any adventure in life. There is a destination eventually, and it usually is not what we expect. Water ultimately finds the lowest path, the easiest path, but soon discovers that many other tributaries have found the same path. So the water merges, collects into a river of power that is one of the most powerful forces in nature. That is the fate of water, to find this ultimate path and will one day continue onward until the last resistance is found – the open sea. So too is our fate as we progress through life. We will eventually become part of something bigger, more lasting. A larger company, a multinational conglomerate, an extended family with a rich history. All things have their terminus, and that is ultimately what water will find, and so will we.
Success Flows Like Water.
