Stop Polishing the Apples: The Real Reason Your Results Won't Change
Chandra Eden, The True Me Yogi
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
Author: T. Harv Eker
"Imagine a tree. Let's suppose this tree represents the tree of life. On this tree there are fruits. In life, our fruits are called our results. So we look at the fruits (our results) and we don't like them; there aren't enough of them, they're too small, or they don't taste good.
So what do we tend to do? Most of us put even more attention and focus on the fruits, our results. But what is it that actually creates those particular fruits? It's the seeds and the roots that creste those fruits.
It's what's under the ground that creates what's above the ground. It's what's invisible that creates what's visible. So what does that mean? It means that if you want to change the fruits, you will first have to change the roots. If you want to change the visible, you must first change the invisible."
Stop Polishing the Apples: The Real Reason Your Results Won't Change
"Imagine a tree. Let's suppose this tree represents the tree of life... If you want to change the fruits, you will first have to change the roots. If you want to change the visible, you must first change the invisible."
Have you ever reorganized your desk instead of doing the project sitting on it?
Or bought a new planner because the old one "wasn't working," even though it contained three untouched pages and one grocery list that somehow included batteries, cilantro, and existential dread?
Congratulations. You're human.
Most of us spend an astonishing amount of energy trying to improve the fruits of our lives. We want more confidence, better relationships, greater success, healthier habits, or less anxiety. So we focus on the visible results, hoping that if we work hard enough, the fruit will somehow improve.
But fruit has terrible listening skills.
It simply grows from whatever roots are feeding it.
This is one of the central ideas behind Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP): your external behavior is often the final chapter of a story that began much earlier, inside your thoughts, beliefs, and unconscious patterns.
Trying to change your life without changing those patterns is a bit like repainting a tree every spring and wondering why it still produces sour apples.
Your Invisible Operating System
Every day your brain runs thousands of unconscious programs.
"I always mess things up."
"I'm just not disciplined."
"People like me don't succeed."
"I'm terrible at meeting new people."
These aren't facts. They're instructions.
Your unconscious mind doesn't spend much time debating whether a belief is true. It simply asks, "Would you like me to make this your reality?"
And because it's wonderfully efficient, it starts collecting evidence to support whatever you've told it.
That's why two people can experience the exact same setback while creating completely different futures.
One thinks, I failed.
The other thinks, That didn't work...yet.
Same event.
Different roots.
Different fruit.
Dig Before You Decorate
One of the most powerful NLP tools for changing your "roots" is identifying limiting beliefs.
Ask yourself:
What do I consistently struggle with?
What belief would someone have to hold to keep producing this result?
Where did I first learn that belief?
Is it actually true...or simply familiar?
Those questions don't magically solve every problem, but they often expose the underground wiring that has quietly been directing your life.
Another powerful technique is reframing.
Suppose you've always believed, "I'm bad at public speaking."
Instead of accepting that as your identity, reframe it:
"I haven't yet developed confidence speaking in front of groups."
Notice what changed.
Your brain no longer hears a life sentence. It hears a skill under construction.
That tiny shift changes the root system.
The Garden You Water
Your attention works like sunlight.
Whatever you repeatedly focus on grows stronger.
If every day you mentally rehearse failure, criticism, or embarrassment, your unconscious mind becomes an expert gardener of those experiences.
But if you intentionally practice successful outcomes through visualization, build empowering beliefs, and notice evidence of progress instead of perfection, you're planting entirely different seeds.
Eventually, different roots produce different fruit.
Not overnight.
Trees rarely rush.
Growth Happens Underground
The frustrating thing about personal growth is that much of it is invisible.
You don't immediately see new confidence.
You don't instantly notice emotional resilience.
You don't wake up one Tuesday and announce, "Good news! My subconscious has completed Phase Two."
Instead, something subtle begins to change.
You respond instead of react.
You speak up when you normally stay quiet.
You recover from setbacks faster.
The fruit appears gradually because the roots have quietly been doing their work all along.
So the next time you find yourself frustrated with the results you're getting, resist the temptation to simply polish the apples.
Pick up a shovel instead.
The most important changes in life almost always begin where no one else can see them.