In our sophisticated world, we often lose sight of the simple truths of life. And one of those overlooked truths is the principle that you reap what you sow. Now, we certainly all know this to be true but I think we often get a little confused in the timing. All too often we expect to reap before we sow; yet this never happens. You only get to reap after you've planted and cultivated seeds; often long after you've sowed the seeds of your success.

This principle applies to everything in life. You only make the sale after you've sowed the effort into educating and informing the client. You only have a happy marriage after you've sowed the effort of time, affection and intimacy with your spouse. You only have a successful company after you've sowed the effort of getting investors, customers and employees. And the list goes on and on.

Now, in the beginning of the process, it's easy to remember this principle because you're doing all sowing and no reaping. As a result, you can't get confused about what comes first. Yet, very often, once we start doing a little reaping, we begin to confuse the order of things. We start to think that we can reap before we sow (or without even sowing at all) and the results are almost always disastrous.

I saw this happen many times when I ran my brokerage firm. I'd hire a young kid who was hungry for success. And sure enough, he'd start out on fire. He'd make phone calls from the early morning hours into the evening. After all, he knew that, unless he built a clientele, he wouldn't be enjoying any commission checks. And sure enough, all of this effort would pay off. Before long, some of his seeds were blossoming into promising client relationships. The kid would start earning recognition and a sizeable paycheck and then his work habits would begin to change. Slowly but surely, he'd start working shorter days, taking longer lunches, and enjoying more frequent three-day weekends.

Interestingly, in the short-term, this reduced effort didn't hurt his earnings because unbeknownst to him, he was still coasting on previous effort. But eventually, the gravy train would come screeching to a grinding halt since no new fuel was being added to the fire. Sadly, in a few months' time, the kid found himself right back where he started.

And he was not alone. We all have a tendency to stop sowing once the harvest arrives. We get so caught up in the good times that we seem to think that they will magically last forever. Yet, the truth of the matter is that unless you keep planting seeds today, you're going to find yourself looking out over a barren field tomorrow wondering, "What went wrong?"

Therefore, you must make a conscious effort to keep planting seeds; even in the good times. No matter how many sales you made today, you must continue contacting new prospects. No matter how many members your organization has today, you must continuing looking for new recruits. And especially, no matter how great your marriage is today, you must keep seeking ways to forge a deeper bond with your spouse. Remember, it is the seeds of effort you sow today that will determine how much success you reap in the future. So keep planting!