Often a consultant will ask a farm about their future plans. The goal of this question is to create a plan with the intention that allowing operations to avoid issues down the road. This plan acts as a roadmap for the dairy’s future, and a lack thereof is concerning for most consultants.
So why not place a similar amount of importance on planning your personal development as a manager? Sustainable personal growth comes from an intentional growth plan, yet few farmers have one for themselves.
Many operators tend to grow similarly to an unplanned dairy. One day they need to learn how to use a new cow management system. Then next suddenly Spanish is a must-know. Yet another day they may learn the new CAFO regulations so they can rework their nutrient management plan.
In a reactionary cycle such as this stress is an ever-present shadow, it affects how you feel, behave and even think. I see this often in my clients. They tend to grow in areas where new stressors appear. Often commenting that this is, “Not how I pictured myself farming.”
Their areas of personal growth are not meaningful to them, despite being useful at the moment. This leads to a mental conflict between what they desire to do and what they are actually doing. This is not sustainable long term.
Mental conflict such as this is what psychologists call cognitive dissonance and causes burnout and depressed life satisfaction.
It will sap their energy, love of farming and the ability to develop in a way they want to, which also stunts the operation’s growth.
Flip the Script
Instead, we need to flip the script.
By improving awareness around sustainable farming we can craft a plan to create mentally sustainable dairies.
Sit down with your advisors to think about the next 1, 5 and 10 years. Discuss recent and future growth opportunities and stressors. Be open and honest about which areas excite you and which scare you. Talk about why they make you feel that way.
By discussing how they affect you, natural patterns will emerge. These patterns then become your plan for sustainable growth.
In arenas that excite and are meaningful, you can seek out additional learning and investment opportunities. Then you can exploit them as your operation’s niche, feeding your personal growth.
In arenas where you feel stressed or inadequate, you can begin to ID individuals or systems that can saddle the load for you. Now when that next “expansion” occurs in your life you have a plan to address these stressors intentionally.
This allows you to continue to play in the meaningful work sustaining your mental health despite the existence of these stressors.
Taking control of this plan early and intentionally means your actions will align with your “vision of farming” wasting less energy on stressors and placing more on rewarding activities.
It means less burnout, more life satisfaction, and mentally sustainable agriculture long into the future.
Original News At: https://www.dairyherd.com/