What We Can Learn From Cucumbers and Ice Cubes

Hi friend,

Last week, something VERY exciting happened: 

I discovered two gorgeous cucumbers casually chilling in my garden.

A bit of context to help you understand why this was so very exciting/surprising:  

My husband Zach and I moved to the suburbs at the end of last summer (after years of me clamoring to leave the city), and one of the things I’d fantasized about most with respect to suburban life was the *OUTDOOR SPACE* and the ability to do things like grow my own herbs and vegetables.

While Zach and I have been enjoying fresh rosemary and mint all summer, my impatient brain had been growing increasingly skeptical about whether the alleged cucumbers would ever actually materialize, and there were numerous times I found myself wondering whether my watering efforts had been for naught.  Because for months, every time I checked, there was nary a cuc in sight.

So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered that not one, but TWO, fully-formed (and totally legit-looking, if I do say so myself) cucumbers seemed to have sprung up overnight. 

(Granted, in the spirit of this blog, I have been taking a highly NON-perfectionistic approach to my gardening duties, so I recognize the possibility that the cucs’ development may not have been quite as instantaneous as it seemed – but bear with me.)

After summoning Zach to help me celebrate and document this momentous occasion, it occurred to me: THIS IS JUST LIKE POSITIVE MINDSET/BEHAVIOR CHANGE! 

You see, I’ll admit that waiting for my cucs to sprout was not the first time I’ve grown antsy waiting for results.

Far from it.

As a perfectionist, I’ve historically been very LOW on patience, and expected progress to be both immediate and linear in all areas of my life, including with respect to cultivating my well-being.

But the truth is that things almost never work this way – especially when it comes to observable improvement.

In his book, Atomic Habits, James Clear shares an ice cube analogy that is highly illustrative of this point (and, admittedly, a bit more factually precise than my cucumber observation):

Imagine you have an ice cube sitting on a table in a 25-degree room.  You turn on the heat, and the room slowly begins to heat up.

A few minutes later, the room is now 31 degrees, and nothing has happened.  The ice cube is still sitting on the table in front of you.

Then, the temperature increases to 32 degrees, and the ice begins to melt.  Suddenly, that one degree shift seems to have unlocked a massive change.

Does this mean that the change in temperature between 25 and 31 degrees didn’t matter?

Of course not.  

You may not have SEEN results until you hit 32 degrees, but you would have NEVER seen the ice melt without those initial shifts in temperature.

As Clear explains, “Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions, which build up the potential required to unleash a major change. . . . Similarly, habits often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold and unlock a new level of performance.”

In other words, just because your progress APPEARS static from the outside, that does NOT mean all the hard work you’re doing isn’t having an effect.

The problem is that many people (especially perfectionists!) initiate change but throw in the towel when they don’t see immediate improvement.

That is, they get trapped in a “Valley of Disappointment” and give up before they break through what Clear calls the “Plateau of Latent Potential.” 

But to make meaningful progress on anything – whether it’s increasing your physical endurance, cultivating mindfulness, taming your inner critic, or strengthening your ability to draw boundaries or step outside your comfort zone – you need to persist long enough to break through those inevitable plateaus.

That is, you must keep watering your proverbial cucumber plants, even if it feels like your efforts are futile, trusting that harvest day may be just around the corner.

Indeed, as Clear explains, “All big things come from small beginnings.  The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision.  But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger.”

So today, friend, if you’ve been working toward a goal but not observing tangible results, I encourage you to hang in there, and rest assured that your hard work is NOT being wasted. It’s just being stored until you reach your breakthrough moment. 

And if there’s a habit you’ve recently abandoned in the Valley of Disappointment, I hope that this post inspires you to give it another shot.  

Because I have zero doubt that if you keep at it, you CAN and WILL enjoy the fruits of your labor (cucumber pun fully intended ). 

And you deserve absolutely nothing less.

As always, if you feel like you could use additional support executing positive change, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

In the meanwhile, know that I am rooting for you!

With love,

Jordana

Postscript: In the few days since I started writing this post, I’ve discovered *FIVE MORE* glorious cucumbers in my garden! 

Further evidence that when it rains it pours (especially this summer!), and that if we can hang in until we reach our breakthrough moment, momentum will beget further momentum.