Just Start: Pruning
and getting to the root of it all
This weekend I decided to tackle a vine
that had wrapped itself around one of my trees.
At first glance, it didn’t look like a problem.
If anything, it made the tree look fuller.
More green.
More textured.
But when I looked closer,
I could see how tightly it had wrapped itself around the branches.
And nearby, a rose bush had started losing blooms
because the vine was slowly taking over.
So I started pruning.
Unwinding.
Pulling.
Tracing it back to the root.
And somewhere in the middle of all that,
I started thinking about my own life.
About the thoughts that quietly wrap themselves around me.
Limiting beliefs.
Intrusive thoughts.
Old stories.
The kinds of thoughts that don’t always look harmful at first.
Sometimes they even blend in so well
I mistake them for being part of who I am.
But over time, they start changing things.
How I see myself.
How I show up.
What I believe is possible.
As I kept on with the vine,
I started thinking about how this shows up in business, too.
Band-aid fixes.
Systems that never got built.
Problems that get worked around instead of solved.
And before you know it,
years pass.
A limiting belief becomes a core belief.
A temporary workaround becomes the way things operate.
So this week I’m asking myself:
What needs pruning?
In my thoughts.
In my habits.
In my business.
In the stories I keep replaying.
Because whether it’s in our thinking or our business,
temporary fixes have a way of becoming permanent systems.
Maybe it’s time to stop trimming around the issue
and start going to the root.
JUST START
• Identify one recurring frustration in your life or business.
• Ask yourself whether the real issue is a system, a habit, or a belief.
• Stop relying on temporary fixes and start going to the root.