Fruit for Thought | Part 2

The Gravity of Time

Last week I wrote about choosing what you want to be known for and committing to growing that fruit instead of trying to produce everything at once.

But there is another ingredient in that equation that people quietly try to skip.

Time.

Time is the most honest measurement we have for effort, quality, patience, and intention. It exposes what was carefully built and what was slapped together for quick attention. You can feel it when you encounter something meaningful. And you can also feel when something was cooked up quickly and pushed out the door, hoping it might stick.

Which brings me to something that has started to feel incredibly dull in our current moment.

Vanity metrics.

Views. Likes. Comments. Follower counts.

The constant expectation that something meaningful should appear instantly.

A post goes up, and within ten minutes, people are refreshing the numbers like they are checking the stock market. If the numbers move fast, we celebrate. If they move slowly, we assume something is wrong.

But instant attention is often shallow attention.

It shows up quickly.

And disappears just as quickly.

Now, let me be clear about something. Attention itself is not the enemy. In fact, earning the attention of people who genuinely want to hear what you have to say is one of the most powerful things an expert author can achieve. If you can build an audience that actually wants to read what you write, watch what you create, and listen to what you share, that is the peak of author marketing.

That is the holy grail.

But like most meaningful things, it rarely happens overnight.

Real audiences grow through time. Through repetition. Through the slow accumulation of ideas, stories, and insights, people begin to associate with your voice. Someone reads something you wrote and thinks, that was worth my time. Then they come back the next week. And the week after that.

That is how trust grows.

The same way a tree grows fruit.

Slowly.

Season after season.

You do not plant a seed on Monday and expect oranges by Friday.

Expert authors are no different.

If you are building a platform right now and the numbers look small, it does not necessarily mean the work is failing. It may simply mean the work is growing at the pace meaningful things usually grow.

And time has a funny way of rewarding the work that stayed patient long enough to mature.

— Hussein

PS. I'm not used to writing shorter articles here; lately, I have needed to cut and save a ton of time to be with my family and enjoy more time with my son Amir. He's on the move and growing so fast.

I've taken time off from my podcast interviews until next month or so for the same reason.

The point is that we are all going through seasons. If the work needs a season of slimming down, it's all good, but staying consistent to maintain the writing habit is crucial for me.

If you read my work often, send me referrals or share my work in any way, thank you.

Stay close to your favorite work, even if it's a little bit, it's worth it in the long run!