We must shift our thinking away from short-term gain toward long-term investment and sustainability. –John D. Rockefeller

Right now, the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC are a sight to behold!  And people have come from all over the world to catch a glimpse of these magnificent trees in all their glory.  The Tidal Basin around the Jefferson Memorial boasts the highest concentration of plumage, and the petals create a pink blizzard at the slightest breeze.  But the trees also cascade out into various neighborhoods in and around the DC area.  And my street is fortunate enough to boast a large number of these beauties.

Today, the cherry blossoms form an all-encompassing pink canopy over our humble court.  But that was not always the case. A few years ago, some of our beloved trees had grown old and diseased.  The cherry blossoms are not the hardiest species, so if you ignore the rot, it will soon overwhelm the trunk and the tree will die.  To address this, we called in arborists who specialize in the preventive maintenance of the tree.  These experts swooped in and cut the diseased trees all the way back to the core, leaving a ghostly skeleton of bark and bare branches.  The humanity!

The scaling back of the cherry trees was a tough pill to swallow for the neighborhood.  For at least three seasons, the trees were scrawny and misshapen.  In the short run, it was a huge loss for the aesthetics of our little cul-de-sac.  There were times when it seemed they would never blossom again.  But ultimately, after much growth, time, and patience, the trees came back stronger than ever!   Had we done nothing, or even incrementally pruned, the trees surely would have rotted and died.

And this “short-term pain for long-term gain” is a great reminder for the rest of us in our everyday lives.

Do We Need to Make a Clean Break?

As we progress with our careers, we may feel stagnant and unfulfilled. We may feel that slow tug of underachievement.  What can we do to get back on track?  How do we refocus on maximizing our potential?  It may be tempting to make slight tweaks.  Sometimes, that is all we need.  But sometimes, we have to look deeper. Do we need to shift gears entirely?  Are our skills better utilized in another career?  We can’t be afraid to make a radical change.  Sometimes, we have to prune that tree ALL THE WAY back in order to save its life!

The short-term impacts can be devastating.  A loss of confidence brought on by major uncertainty.  Fear of the unknown.  An immediate drop in revenue.  That tree will be bare and vulnerable and we may have immediate regret and remorse.  But stepping back in the present can lead to massive growth in the future.  Think of it as an investment that can’t be measured in days and months. It can only be measured over the long arc of our careers.

Powering Through Difficulty is Not Always the Answer

And the same principle applies to our relationships.  Do we try to find incremental happiness in a difficult relationship or do we make a clean break now in the hopes of blossoming in the future?  And what about our investment strategy?  Or discipline for our children?  Or our reliance on a particular sport?  Or any major commitment in our lives?  When we have invested so much in a pursuit, it makes it even more difficult to change course.  Even if all logic points in the other direction, we often think it would be a waste to throw it all away this late in the game.  Be careful of the “sunken cost” trap.  It may seem counterintuitive, but we can’t base our future on how much we have invested in the past.  Sometimes, we have to cut our losses.  And a major shift and excessive pruning may be exactly what we need to keep the trunk from rotting away!

People often confuse resiliency with “toughing it out”.  Of course, we have to persevere through difficult times.  We can’t give up easily on our goals and dreams.  But what if we are trying to power through a situation that is detrimental to our own health and well-being? Maintaining a stiff upper lip can be the quickest route to therapy!  Resiliency is all about moving forward.   And sometimes the best path forward requires a giant step backward.

It takes incredible courage to make a fundamental change in our lives.  It can be painful and difficult to suffer short-term pain.  But we have to think about the future. There will be another Spring season.  Sometimes pruning back the cherry tree in the present is the only way to ensure even more beautiful blossoms in the future.