What Is the Bamboo Effect?
Imagine you find a little bamboo seed lying on the park you were walking. You pick it up and decide to plant it, internally thinking “how hard can it even be?”. Then you start watering it every day. You also get rid of the weeds. And you keep waiting. A year goes by, and you see nothing. You start losing hope but you still keep on going. Its been two years now, and you still don’t see anything. In year four or five you see only a small green tip. Maybe you think, “This plant must be dead.” But it’s not.
Bamboo is quite busy underground. It works in silence, every single day. Its roots get wide and very deep. Also did you know that they can spread as far as 100 feet in every direction? How wild is that!!! They search for water and food. They not only dig but they also hold tight to the earth like strong hands. After that in year five, something extraordinary takes place, its almost magical. The bamboo goes up really fast, up to three feet in just one day! In six weeks, it can be as tall as 90 feet.
That is the Bamboo Effect: growth that is slow and not visible at first, done in secret, then the same efforts leads to success that is big and fast. The tall plant doesn’t show up overnight.
Why We Need to Incorporate the Bamboo Effect Today
People are rushing through their lives. The desires for quick likes, quick money, quick fame are common to everybody now. Social media is like a tall bamboo only – the big win, the fancy car, the perfect life. This also leads to constant comparison, self-loathing and a toxic cycle. It is really important to understand that it hiding the years of quiet work. Social media is just the top 10% of someone’s life. You don’t know what happens behind the scenes.
When results are not fast enough, people tend to quit. We start a diet, but it is only after two weeks that we stop. Similarly, we learn guitar for a month and then give up. We try a new job skill and feel that we are stuck. Be honest with yourself, how many times have you set the same goal and not finished it? It’s just that we look for quick results and when we can’t see them, we quit. Then we start again and then we quit again. The pattern needs to be changed. The Bamboo Effect is sending a message to you that it is not time for stopping. Your roots are growing.
Famous Bamboo Stories
J.K. Rowling: From Rejections to Magic
When the idea of the Harry Potter book came to life, J.K. Rowling was a single mother struggling to make ends meet and she wrote at the cafes while her baby was in a stroller. However, she did submit the manuscript to 12 different publishing houses and got rejected by all of them. She did not lose her trust in writing. After all, she even decided to rewrite the book. When the 13th publisher finally took a chance on her, the book was selling like hotcakes. Today, the value of the Harry Potter brand is upwards of a billion dollars. Anyway, it was she who spent the years of her work in obscurity first.
Michael Jordan: Cut, Then Champion
Michael Jordan tried out for his high school basketball team. The coach rejected the idea of letting him on the team. Jordan went home and cried after that. Anyway, he didn’t quit. He began to exercise very early in the morning at 5 a.m. He did 500 shots a day. Two years later he was on the team. Then he became the most influential player in history. He didn’t pretend not to have failed when he used it as his foundation.
Key Lessons from the Bamboo Effect
1. Be Patient- Growth Takes Time
Most of the large things in life take years rather than days. A fit body requires a few months of consistent workout. A strong friendship needs years of mutual trust. Never compare your first day to someone else’s tenth year. I heard this somewhere and I found it so beautiful, “Comparison is the killer of joy”. You need to focus on you and be proud of the efforts you’re putting in. If you keep comparing yourself to someone else you’ll never really enjoy the process. It’s a long ride, buckle up!
2. Build Strong Roots Every Day
Roots are the basics, it’s important to build the foundation:
- Skills: Choose one thing daily to practice- drawing, coding, or cooking. It’s amazing how just 30 mins of daily practice can make you so much better.
- Health: Sleep properly (track it, note down your dreams- they often tell you what’s up, what might happen). Nourish your body by eating stuff that comes from nature, and exercise your body.
- People: Call a friend, give a hand to someone, and be a good listener. These little things help you to grow inner strength.
To effectively structure your day for maximum wins I’d recommend you to opt for 80/20 Pareto’s Principle. Which says how 20% of your actions drives 80% of your results.
3. Trust the Quiet Work
Keep going even when nothing is visible. Writing in a journal. Recording tiny victories. A “bad” day of work is still giving to your roots.
4. Prepare for the Sprint
The rapid growth will be only for a short period and will come abruptly. If your roots are not strong, you will fall. But, if they are strong, you will go very high and be able to stay there.
What to Do When You Feel Stuck
- Look back: Write down the things you have done. Even the tiniest steps matter.
- Look down: Ask yourself, “What roots am I planting today?”, “Am I doing something today that will make me just one percent better?”. I’d like to recommend the book Atomic Habits from James Clear – it talks about habit stacking, how to get better 1% everyday.
- Imagine the future: Visualize your Year Five sprint. Let it attract you, manifest it. Good energy can do wonders.
- Talk to bamboo friends: Tell one person who supports you about your quiet work.
Start Planting Today
The Bamboo Effect is hope in very few and simple steps. You do not need to see the sky to grow towards it. Feed your dreams daily, just keep on working consistently. Remove the doubts as if they were weeds, and this way you’ll remove the internal obstacles and will have more room to grow. One day, you will come out of the earth and be able to touch the sky.
Your tall moment is coming. Continue developing those roots.
