Plants don't work like that. And neither should we.
Ever heard someone say "Bloom where you're planted"? Well, they probably don't know a lot about plants.
There are two things I love the most in this world. Breaking down our toxic-conditioning around work. And plants.
When I was first starting out, a well-meaning colleague shared this adage with my team— I think to help get us through a particularly gruelling project—she said, “bloom where you are planted”. The idea being that we’re all capable of turning a trash-pile into a rose garden, I guess?!
And while that may feel inspirational in the moment—especially when freaking out about your chosen profession—it's not true. If you think about it, it’s really just a way of keeping people stuck in situations that aren’t working for them. It sets the expectation that somehow, if you cannot bloom, there’s something wrong with you. Certainly don’t pay any attention to the fact the soil you’re in is wrong for your roots, or you’re not receiving enough sunlight (figurative or literally). You wouldn’t expect a cactus to do well in the rainforest, just like you couldn’t expect a sword fern to grow in a desert. Right?!
Plants, like humans, require different environments and support to thrive. And that’s OK. The real task ahead of us is figuring what are those factors that enable our growth. This takes some introspection—usually though, the clues are right in front of you.
What irks you on a daily basis and why?
Do you respect the people you work for (looking even to those, levels above you)?
And frankly, do you see yourself in the folks around you? If you’re a person who errs on the side of kindness, are the people you work with also kind?
Back to my coworker’s advice. Sure, maybe you could figure out how to get by in a job that wasn’t the best. Many of us do. But do you really want to just “get by”; over-efforting simply to push out a weak-little flower? Or do you want to burst forth with all that you are meant to be, because you’re planted in the exact right place for you?
Personally, I pick the latter.