I said to him, "Grampa, I can't wait for all the vegetables to grow so we can eat them, but I especially can't wait for the apples from this dwarf tree."

Grandpa said, "Kenrick, this tree needs to be planted, needs to be nurtured, needs to grow, and mature, and it will be several years before these trees give us apples we can eat."

Our businesses may not require years to grow fruit, however we do need to plant the seeds and nurture our businesses as they grow.

Hard work, time, sweat, investment for more education--these are all things I happily engage in as they all result in a tree with more fruit.

What carries us through the growth periods, when maybe we don't have exactly what we want?

Watching my students over the years as they bear the fruits of their labor as a result of persuasion training is an amazing process. We all grow together, learn from each other, and thrive on the richness of our diverse backgrounds.

Sir Isaac Newton said, "If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent."

The concept of 'patient attention' is important, especially when we're faced with a huge amount of information (like a beginning piano student, or even a beginning persuasion student).

We're not always going to get it right the first time. I caution new students not to be hard on themselves. Even if your conscious mind doesn't think it's getting all the information, if you're paying attention and putting in the time, your other than conscious mind is absorbing.

In order to "get it" you need to be present. You have to have the "attention" part in play for it to begin to bear fruit.