You Must Recognize Your Victory Now

You Must Recognize Your Victory Now

From Echoes from an Old Hollow Tree by Ryan B. Anderson

September 24, 2025 · 8 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of recognizing personal achievements and growth in the context of seasonal changes and the pressures of modern work life.

You’re well on the march to winter now. The solstice came and went back in June and your days became imperceptibly shorter. Lammas came and went quietly with the early harvest. Now the equinox is behind you and there is no denying that summer in all its good green glory has performed its function. Everything good grew, bloomed, and went to seed. Purpose and achievement realized, made manifest. A culmination of green and gold, of seed and loam. We could learn from all the trees and flowers this time of year, of all the seed sowers and bulb growers. Our days are marked by endless pings and alerts, of calendar reminders and notifications. You are approaching the fourth quarter of the business year—that most hatefully efficient quadrisecting delineation of your time—and, if you are a white collar worker who spends more time behind a keyboard than a shovel, you are likely facing some sort of “Q4 performance review.” If so, God help you. Your good green heart was meant for more than this. You will be asked—either by your job or by our wounded culture at large—how you plan to grow in the coming quarter, in the time before the turn of another year. This is neither fair nor is it natural…

People in this episode

Host: Ryan B. Anderson

Topics covered

  • seasonal change
  • personal growth
  • work-life balance
  • agrarian roots
  • performance review

Keywords

  • winter
  • solstice
  • Lammas
  • equinox
  • Q4 performance review
  • agrarian culture
  • personal achievement

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