Let me tell you a story.
There were two farmers. Both planted their seeds at the same time. Both worked their land every single day. Early mornings, long hours, hands in the soil, showing up without fail.
But one farmer was obsessed with his neighbor’s field.
Every morning, before tending to his own crops, he would walk to the fence and look over. Was his neighbor’s field growing faster? Were his crops fuller? Was the rain falling more on his side? And every time he saw his neighbor thriving, he felt that quiet, uncomfortable sting. Because in his mind he was the better farmer. He worked harder. He was more honest. He treated his land with more care. So why was his neighbor doing just as well? Maybe even better?
And so he kept watching. Kept comparing. Kept waiting for the universe to make it make sense.
Meanwhile, his own field, the one he was supposed to be tending, was growing. Quietly. Slowly. Doing exactly what it was supposed to do. But he was too busy looking over the fence to notice.
The second farmer never looked up.
He just planted. Watered. Showed up. Day after day after day. Not because he was guaranteed a good harvest. Not because he believed the universe owed him one. But because this was his field. His work. His life. And that was enough.
I was the first farmer this week.
Something got under my skin. Someone else’s success was bothering me in a way I couldn’t shake. And when I finally got quiet enough to ask myself why really why what I found was uncomfortable to admit.
I had attached success to being a good person.
Deep down, I believed that if you do the right thing, if you stand up for what is right, show up with integrity, try to be good, life rewards you for it. And people who don’t? They get what they deserve eventually.
But life doesn’t work that way. And when someone I felt had acted wrongly seemed to be thriving, my whole equation fell apart. And what I felt wasn’t just discomfort. It was the particular sting of someone who expected fairness and didn’t get it.
That was the real thing. Not their success. My broken equation.
Because success is not a moral report card; good people struggle every day. People who cut corners get ahead. Life doesn't keep score the way we want it to. And if your peace depends on that scorecard, you will spend so much of your life at the fence. Watching. Waiting. Quietly resenting. While your own field grows untended.
So here is what I am taking into this week.
Tend your field. Every single day. Not because you are guaranteed a good harvest. Not because you are waiting for the universe to reward you for being good. But because it is your field. Your work. Your life.
Be good because it is who you are. Do the work because it matters to you. Stand up for what you believe in because you believe in it, not because you expect something in return.
And stop looking over the fence.
Your harvest is growing. You just have to show up for it.
Let’s have a great week.
What Else Dropped This Week
Off Script
Under the Hood
David Senra - The Man Who Built an Empire on a Six-Year Paywall Nobody Wanted
What I’m Reading
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents -Isabel Wilkerson
This book made me question how much of who we become is truly ours, and how much is shaped by the systems we’re born into.
Start with Yourself - Emma Grede (Finishing)
A practical guide to taking ownership, building influence, and creating opportunities.
Things That Happened Around
Why Silicon Valley’s Vision of the AI Future Should Worry You
A $2 Hot Dog Explains the Human Advantage Every Company Will Need as Automation Spreads
Note to Self
Your work is compounding every single day you show up. You may not see it yet. But it is happening. The bamboo grows underground for years before it breaks through the surface, and when it does, it shoots up fast. That is your work. That is your field.
But only if you are tending it.
Stop watching someone else’s harvest. You might just miss your own.
Be bold. Be real. Be Anomalous.
— Sai Menon
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