How to Have Your Most Productive Year Ever (Part 1)

How to Have Your Most Productive Year Ever (Part 1) My dad grew up on a farm in Lipton, Saskatchewan. The current population is 345. He grew up with seven brothers and the family business was farming. Farming is not an easy life; there is always something to be done. Some of my greatest childhood memories were spending time on the farm. Driving huge tractors, cultivating soil, planting seeds and milking cows. Here are some of the lessons I learned: • You have to cultivate and prepare the soil before you plant the seeds. • You have to plant the seeds if you want anything to grow. • You have to nurture and take care of the seeds to get the best crop. • You can’t “hurry” nature. When the crop is ready, it’s ready. You have to be patient. • You have to harvest when the crop is ready. • As soon as the crop is harvested, you start preparing the soil again for the next crop. There is a repeatable process with farming. Sure, technological advances have given my cousins the ability to farm thousands of acres instead of hundreds, but the basic principles remain the same. In sales, there are two prevailing philosophies; hunting and farming. I’ve heard sales companies recruit for sellers asking, “Are you a hunter?” Hunting is a great sport. You enjoy nature, you stalk your prey and then you kill. I’ve always wrestled with the sales philosophy that was built on stalking and killing. My hunting friends frequently come home disappointed. Despite having the latest equipment, they spend hours in the woods and come back empty-handed. There are no guarantees when you hunt. Farmers win when they grow their crops. Farmers can have confidence that if they take the steps I’ve outlined above – barring natural disasters or a weather crisis – they will be harvesting a crop. A hunter can do all the right things and still not get anything… not so in farming. Farmers grow; hunters kill. For me, the choice is obvious. Do you want to be a hunter or a farmer? Tomorrow, we’ll share some thoughts on cultivating business. Now is a great time to start planting your seeds for your 2021 crop.