Farmer on Fire Podcast

When you don't face the problems inside of your farm operation, the pain and struggle just begin to multiply. The hard truth is, you are believing lies and avoiding the truth because it is painful. However, the longer you avoid the truth the more damage it is going to do to your life and you will inevitably one day burn it all to the ground or end up being completely miserable. When you make a dec...

Do you value yourself and your time? Or do you act helpless and hopeless waiting for someone to come and save you? When the next generation comes back to the farm, do you have a clear game plan on how you are going to pass it on, or do you live in fantasy land thinking they are going to wait around for you to give them an answer? So many farmers are burnt out and resent their parents because of th...

Most farm family dynamics are an absolute shit show. And I mean that most truthfully. The problem is, everyone wants to bury the truth and pretend like everything is perfect when the reality is, it's a mess. I'm not just talking about the business side. I'm talking about the personal side. Where everyone is afraid of speaking the truth and stepping up for what they know is right. You will 100% pis...

When you ignore the small fires in life, they only multiply. The problem is oftentimes you are unaware of how to solve the problem. The only way you have been taught how to deal with it is to ignore it or sedate it. This leads to massive chaos and uncertainty in your life and it is only a matter of time before you quit. When you step into the fire, tell the truth about where you are currently at,...

We all want to paint the perfect idea in our minds that we are in a "good place" but the reality is, there is some massive pain and struggle we are not facing. Whether it's in the relationship with your parents, a partnership that isn't working and needs to dissolve, or your body that is overweight and you literally have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. This pain is a compounding eff...

When you do not fully commit yourself, you leave a part of yourself vulnerable to negative consequences. The majority of men are "half-assing" getting little to no results in their life and are on the edge of burnout and quitting. When a man decides to go all in, no matter the costs, there is a burning desire that nothing can come in the way of. You will experience pain, frustration, loss, and fai...

Most men live in quiet desperation "hoping" that things will magically work out in their lives one day. The truth is, you are avoiding something that you do not want to confront. And you know exactly what that is. It could be the realization of a failing business, a relationship that has to end, or problems in your marriage that keep coming up time and time again. One way or another, you are not l...

You're frustrated because you aren't getting the results you want. Your burning out, irritated, frustrated, and just had enough on your family farm. The problem is, there is a good chance you are stuck inside your identity as a farmer. What do I mean by this? You cannot imagine or comprehend what life looks like outside of the daily grind of running tractors and feeding cows. The truth is, this is...

One thing I learned about being in debt $600k at 19 was how I used my age as leverage to "not take responsibility".I felt "noble" walking this path because nobody around my age was doing what I was doing, which put pride on my shoulders. The problem was that I never felt the weight of this until I began to experience the financial reality of my operation. What I was missing was the TRUTH. I'd been...

There are two places in your mind in which you exist. The first is a place known as Reality. This is where you are in Truth and can see the Facts about your current reality. You feel the painful consequences of past decisions, your bank account, your marriage relationship, or an overweight body that only seems to be fading away. Unfortunately, most people do not spend the majority of their time in...

Many family farms are stagnant because of the hard truth that nobody is willing to take a stand for the facts. Difficult conversations and collisions are a must if you want to continue the operation into the next generation. Being "the one" is going to mean that you will be the one who gets criticized, judged, and even rejected because you are finally bringing Truth into the farm operation. Once y...

Everything about you changes when you fight like your world depends on it. To get to this place, you are going to have to get a place inside of yourself that is willing to do whatever is required. When you make this decision, there is going to be a process you will have to go through to get the results you are looking for. The Problem? The majority of people will QUIT because they cannot see it th...

How many times on your Journey have you felt like you were headed in the wrong direction? It may be uncertainty in your farm operation, making a hiring mistake, or it may even be that things going sideways inside of your marriage. The Truth is, even if it feels like you are lost, you are still headed in the right direction. It is because God is focused on building character inside of you that is g...

The first phase a man has to enter is his "Awakening" phase. What. I mean by this is that if a man ever wants to truly be successful long term, he is first going to have to enter a Pit of Darkness. As men, we have been taught, trained, and educated to bury our feelings and emotions and label it as a "noble" gesture. When the truth is, the people it hurts the most is your family. You neglect your w...

I jumped into CrossFit roughly 2 years ago after a mentor recommended it to me as a suggestion to help take me to the next level. It requires me to challenge my mindset by increasing tension and pressure in my body to complete moving weight as quickly and effectively as possible. Without the existence of pain or suffering, there is never going to be any growth involved. Where in your world do you...

The most intense and challenging times in your life will require you to think differently. Whether it's a financial pit, a marriage burning to the ground, or a farm operation that is stagnant and not making any money, you find yourself in the fire. A place where it is pure hell. But, there is a decision to make and an opportunity to make a change. The question is, do you have the courage and heart...

Working with family is one of the most challenging aspects of the family farm. It's an almost unavoidable dynamic that sometimes makes you question whether or not it will be worth sticking around for. Nothing will ever change until you understand and learn how to collaborate and resolve conflict. It took several difficult conversations with my dad to truly build a meaningful relationship that had...

When you say you have a problem inside your business, you really mean you lack power. What I mean by this is that you lack the clarity of the problem. There is a good chance that if you have issues with your team members, you also have problems inside your marriage. To solve this problem, you are going to have to investigate by first looking at yourself and recognizing the patterns and behaviors t...

To truly understand the impact and weight of running a business, you must have a period of time of trials and pain. This is the problem for many kids coming back to the farm is that they think they deserve to have instant access to all assets and they never have to truly work for it. The problem is that no conversations are being had and zero conflict resolution and the resentment and anger start...

I'm going to challenge you in this episode to consider a new possibility inside your life. What would it look like if you began to operate in a way that focused more energy on being respected rather than liked? You see, most people who want to be liked end up living miserable, half-assed, and tolerating a ton of bull crap. When you stand firm and commit yourself to changing how you see the world,...

When someone says they are going to do something and they don't end up following through on it, there is an immediate feeling of distrust. Often times we find ourselves in situations where we are operating on another person's words instead of focusing on their actions and motives. When you stand firm and can identify what it is you want in your life, then you are able to divide with truth and foll...

There are only 2 options when we are faced with difficult situations. Face them head-on and walk through the fire. Or allow the pressure and challenges to overcome you and quit. The painful reality is that there are going to be extremely difficult things you are going to have to overcome inside of Trials that is going to test your ability to stand strong. You're going to be met with anger, frustra...

For so long, I have always wanted to do "my own thing" because it gave me a sense of power and purpose. So I thought. I realized that it was a self-serving agenda where I never considered what it would do to those around me. Until the Truth was revealed that to truly serve and follow God, I would have to deny myself. This meant putting aside my own personal agenda and asking God to lead me instead...

Making decisions is a constant reality inside of your farm and personal life. However, the majority of people do not trust themselves to make and would rather not make them at all. Not only does this leave you frustrated, but the problem tends to stack on top of one another until there is a blowout or burnout. I want to have you consider that by you stepping up and having the courage and willingne...

There is a darkness that comes in getting to the Truth. The problem is, the majority of people are NOT willing to go to that place. Instead, you sell out in a land of comfort instead of doing what you know you must do. Your marriage begins to deteriorate, your body turns to food for comfort, and you sedate the pain with a 6-pack every night (or more).What would it look like for you to search that...