Getting caught up in a “grass is always greener” frame of mind is one of the worst things that you can do because it removes you from reality by creating “what if” scenarios. For example, you might say things like: “What if I went to a nicer college, I would have a better job right now.” Or, “What if I trained harder for that game, I would have done better.” These are terrible things to say to yourself because no matter who you are, what you’ve done, or where you’ve been, things can always be better — there is no such thing as perfection. If you are someone who gets caught up in a woulda-coulda-shoulda (i.e., I would have done this, I could of done that, I should have acted this way), then I have some advice for you: stop concerning yourself with the grass on the other side of the hill, and start watering your own damn grass.

Let me tell you a story: at this very moment, several of my neighbors are having an unofficial grass growing competition. I say it’s unofficial because all of my neighbors are each trying to make their front yard look the greenest, but there’s no referee or scoreboard, it’s just a bunch of older/middle aged men making their front yards look good. The amount of time and energy they are spending in doing this is quite surprising. For instance, one of my neighbors dug up his entire front yard, installed an irrigation system, planted premium grass seeds (I asked him), and then put up caution tape around the perimeter of his yard. This guy really wants the greenest of the green in his front yard, at any cost. If the devil himself were to ask him for his soul for green grass, I’m sure he would say yes.

As I look at my neighbors all putting time and energy into their yards, I had an epiphany: my neighbors are entrepreneurs, and their business is growing grass. The more I looked at this occurrence, the more I saw parallels to grass growing and starting a business. Below I have them listed for you:

1. Grass growing is a competition that benefits the community.

Even though each one of my neighbors is in competition with one another, they are all working together to improve the community that they live in. That’s exactly what businesses do, too. As an entrepreneur you are working diligently on solving a problem by providing a service or product that you feel is better than something that either exists, or does not exist yet. Essentially, you are doing something for yourself as a way to make a living, but you are also doing it for your customer. In the long run, ideally, everyone benefits. As you create a better product, the bar is raised, and improvements are made across the board.

In a community, people grow grass to make their front yards look better, but through this process, the neighborhood improves and the bar gets raised. But this doesn’t happen overnight. One key factor in grass growth is time.

2. Growing a business is a lot like growing grass because they both take time.

In both grass and business growth, time is what must happen for the results to be seen. Nothing is going to happen to the grass if you sit there and stare at it, however, if you treat it well, and measure it over time, you will ideally see the results you want. At times it might feel like nothing is happening — there is a reason why grass growing is compared to one of the most boring activities. But it’s all about perspective.

Just like with business, growing grass is more than just planting a seed and nurturing it for long term results. There is no instant grass just like there isn’t a get rich quick business (if you hear people selling either, it’s a scam). Growing a business and growing your lawn is about finding out what type of soil to use (your audience), what type of seed to use (your product), and providing the nurturing and care it needs to grow strong and successful (customer service, marketing, etc.).

Growing grass takes time, like I mentioned earlier, but there is another thing it takes: energy. Since we all don’t have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to spend on just one thing, we turn to technology and machinery to help us.

3. A successful lawn or business uses automation.

Automation has both positive and negative connotations. Every time a new piece of technology comes out, some people tend to show concern towards it because it eliminates a job or takes away some busy work that we would normally do. But no matter what your views on automation are, one thing is always certain (or else it wouldn’t exist): automation is effective; automation saves time, energy, and money.

Grass needs water to grow, right? Well, chances are if you have a home, you have a job and various other responsibilities that remove you from your home, you are not going to always be there to water the grass when it needs it. So what do you do? This is easy: get sprinklers. Sprinklers are an automated watering system that we use to make sure our grass keeps growing; nice, green, and fresh.

Businesses today have more options available than ever before when it comes to automation. There have been more advances in technology in the past decade than ever before in human existence. The business of today can focus more on making a product/providing a service, than concerning themselves with the tedious work associated with doing so.

Automation isn’t going away, but another factor in growing your grass/business is understanding the climate.

4. Understand the climate you are growing in.

I have a confession: I live in California and when I get my home (I currently rent an apartment) I will not have grass in my yard because I think grass is not meant to be grown in California. California is a desert; a dry place that is meant for cacti and other shrubbery. I personally see people struggle with growing grass here, and although it is possible, it does not happen easily. The neighbors I mentioned earlier are constantly dumping water on their front lawn. I think this is a waste. If they understood the climate they lived in better, they would consider other options.

Just like growing a grass in California takes a lot of water, growing a business in the wrong climate will waste your resources. By understanding the climate you are in, you can make better accommodations. Certain businesses are better suited for certain climates; cafes and bars in cities, farm equipment businesses in farming areas, etc. Consider the climate you are in and whether you are growing what’s best for it before complaining about someone else doing a better job.

5. Plan for accidents.

Finally, the last parallel I see with grass growing and business is both situations require you to prepare for things you don’t want. For example, your neighbors cat might leave their business on your lawn and not pick it up. This bothers you immensely, but you can not expect accidents like these to not occur. Your business will have its ups and downs, and accidents will happen. They always do. The key thing to do is to prepare for them before they happen, instead of reacting to them as they do.

Now go and tend to your own lawn!

Too many people easily complain about what they could have done, should have acted, or what would have occurred, but that is all irrelevant. What matters most is where you are standing, right now. At this very moment in time, what are you doing to grow the environment you are in? What are you doing that is best suited for your climate? Are you taking advantage of technological tools are your disposal? Are you being patient and planting your seeds for the future? Are you preparing for accidents?

Understanding how to grow grass will help you grow your business. As you improve the process, you will not only improve your personal venture, you will improve your customer’s lives.