The times, they are a-changin’. That’s never been more true for agriculture than it is today.
I'm a family business adviser, and it is my honor to spend time with farm families across the Midwest and the Northeast. I get to sit at kitchen tables, walk through barns and listen carefully as families talk about their businesses, their relationships and the decisions in front of them. I learn from them every day. And I know they have learned from my down-to-earth ideas as well, especially when it comes to the people side of the cow business.
This article is an extension of a talk I gave recently at the GrassWorks Grazing Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin. It was about resiliency, and more specifically, how we stay nimble when change around us is constant. I share lessons learned from my customers and my own path in farming.
For me, resiliency breaks down into three areas: grit, connections and staying curious.
Let’s start with grit.
In the book Grit, Angela Duckworth describes grit as a combination of passion and perseverance. Passion is something we know when we see it and when we feel it, especially in agriculture.
I often show a picture of my kids when they were small. Julia was about 4 and Nathan was about 8. They were wearing swimsuits and had on barn boots. They were getting ready to swim in a cattle tank. In the background are cows and green grass. Everything I’m passionate about in one picture. I wanted to be a farmer so I could raise my kids on the farm the way I was raised. That’s what I’m passionate about.
What are you passionate about? There are a thousand answers to that question. It might be the soil, or genetics. It might be working for yourself, or family, heritage or the chance to prove something in your own laboratory, your farm. Every reason is valid, and your reason is a shortcut to your values.
The second half of grit is perseverance. Perseverance is not just putting one foot in front of the other. I often talk about two swimmers when I explain this.
One is Dory the fish from Finding Nemo. “Just keep swimming” was her mantra throughout the movie. But that kind of forward motion can also become mindless.
Then there is Katie Ledecky – the most decorated female swimmer in history. There is a home video of her swimming a few strokes, resting, then swimming again. After the race, she gets out of the pool and tells her dad, “That was so hard, but it was great.” Katie was showing the kind of perseverance that would eventually lead her to Olympic gold. In the book Grit, Angela Duckworth explains that Ledecky’s philosophy is about perseverance through intentional practice. Every time she gets in the pool, she pushes the edge slightly. Perseverance is asking how you can get better as you keep going.
When have you persevered? What did you learn about yourself in the process?
That combination of passion and perseverance is grit.
Let’s move on to the second area of resiliency, which is your connections.
Connections to people truly matter. Who is in your inner circle? How intentional are you about keeping these relationships strong? Do you have a network beyond that inner circle? I'm involved with Dairy Girl Network, and I believe the connections women find there are important. They get and give ideas. They get and give encouragement.
Think about a person who helps you stay resilient. Take out your phone and send them a text right now. Tell them you appreciate them, and the help that got you through tough times or that you could not have done it without them. You will be surprised how meaningful that message is to that person.
The other connection that matters is the connection to yourself. When you stop and think about it, you are the person you spend the most time with. I challenge you to notice your self-talk. Is it positive, or is it slightly negative? Be honest.
Self-regulation is also a powerful way to stay connected to yourself. It is not easy to stay calm with the pressures of farming, family and responsibility. Things break. People say things they should not say. Stress shows up fast. Staying aware and staying regulated truly can change everything.
I share this quote with every manager on every farm I work with:
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
The next time the pressure is mounting, notice that space. Stay connected to yourself and stay resilient in that exact moment.
The third area of resiliency is to stay curious.
Five years ago, I sold my herd of 400 Jersey cows. I loved being a dairy farmer. Selling those cows was hard, and if I'm being honest, I lost some of my zest. What brought it back was intense curiosity about rebuilding our operation as a cow-calf farm. I became single-mindedly focused on virtual fence. I researched, asked questions and pushed forward. Even when Environmental Quality Program (EQIP) funding did not come through, we decided to move ahead with a leap of faith and purchased the collars. That curiosity made me fall in love with farming again. This one interest buoyed me through a hard season.
For me and for many of my clients running successful farms, curiosity is one of the strongest tools for staying resilient through change. So I ask, what are you curious about?
I will leave you with this. Get gritty, keep your connections to yourself and others strong and keep those curious wheels turning. Also keep an eye on these traits in those around you. We need you to stay nimble and resilient because the only thing that’s constant is change.
