Dig the well before you're thirsty
When I was in Afghanistan as part of my US Army tour, we would spend dayyyysss in the desert just going village to village meeting the locals and establishing a presence in the area.
One day, we came to a man’s house, which had a pretty sizeable farm, to speak to him about some of the suspicious activity we had seen in the area and try and establish a positive relationship with the owner.
However, the owner was nowhere to be found.
In the area we were in, people rarely left home because of two reasons:
They had everything they needed at home (food, animals, family, etc.)
It was unsafe to enter the village because of the Taliban 👀
So it was strange to come to a house like this, with so many valuables, and it be completely empty. 🤔
After searching for some time, we came across a hole in the floor of one of the rooms.
Inside this hole was the owner — him and his sons were painstakingly digging (by hand and a single shovel) this hole which was probably 20ft deep at the time—inside their house!
Once the man came out, we asked him what they were doing and he said they were digging a well.
The house was just minutes from a small river, so we were puzzled and asked him why he would go through the trouble of digging a deep well when there was a river just a few minutes from his home.
What he said has stuck with me ever since.
“One day, we may need it. So we dig it now”
This man knew that the area was becoming increasingly more dangerous and that even though they could easily go get water from the river, he knew it wouldn’t always be safe to even leave his home.
There is an old quote, “dig the well before your thirsty,” and it has always been one of my favorites. Now, it reminds me of this Afghan man and his two sons.
This principle is so valuable in life and in business because it speaks to the power of thinking long-term, in being proactive, and in having patience.
What’s your well?
What should you be digging right now?
Good things take time — don’t wait until you need something to start working for it.
This week, start digging.