Someone is always doing it tougher than you

Someone is always doing it tougher than you

Recently I stayed in a hotel in Casino NSW. 

I travelled to have a couple of days with Our Cow, who I coach.  

It’s hard to get accommodation in Casino, and I ended up staying in a simple hotel that was three stars at best.  

I met a girl called Kylie. 

Kylie is a single mother who had been staying at the same hotel for the past three months – in a one-bedroom unit with her three children. 

She had lost her house in the recent floods and could not get insurance (her home was in Lismore, and many insurance companies don’t cover this area).   

The one-bedroom unit she was staying in at the hotel was about the same size as my living room. When I asked her where her kids slept, she told me ‘on the floor.’ She can fit two mattresses, and all three kids share this. 

One of her kids at the time had the flu, and he had been at ‘home’ for the past three days. 

I really felt for her. 

It helped me realise just how lucky we are as a family of four living in a place where our kids each have their own room and their own bed. 

When I asked Kylie how she was handling things, she replied, ‘I feel so lucky that the owners of this hotel are giving me a great rate. They are so amazing.’ Her eyes were full of gratitude and happiness that she had a place to stay that she could afford. 

She wasn’t holding onto the fact she had lost her house.   

She had a spark and a twinkle in her eyes that told me she would be just fine. 

Experiences like this make me realise just how lucky so many of us are.   

There is always someone else doing it tougher than we are.   

It really put my issues to rest. 

Kylie was going through a tough time, yet she could still find gratitude for what she had. I tried to imagine living in a one-bedroom apartment with my family of four, and I immediately felt claustrophobic.   

I have so much respect for her. 

Remember to value what you have, as there is always someone else out there right now (even In Australia) doing a lot tougher than you are. 

Robbo

 

The 15 Keys To Running Team Meetings

The 15 Keys To Running Team Meetings

A 30-minute weekly team meeting aligned to your strategic plan will do you wonders. 

Here are 15 keys to running a great meeting: 
 
1. Set a time: Make it the same time every time so that people book it in as a habit. 
 
2. Set a frequency: Make it consistent, so it’s booked in as a habit. 
 
3. Select a location: In the office, on the kitchen table, on the phone or on Zoom – make it the same place each time. 
 
4. Publish an agenda: So that the team knows what will be covered. 
 
5. Start on time: Reward the organised people, train the tardy people to be early. 
 
6. Welcome! Thank them for making the time. 
 
7. Your say: Allow everyone to have ‘their say’ on how they are feeling (1-minute maximum). This encourages participation and gets everyone involved. 
 
8. Check-in: Each person should discuss what they have completed from the previous week’s action list. Congratulate them for what they get done. If they haven’t completed items, get them to commit to getting them done and ask, “how can I/we support you on getting it done for next week?” 
 
9. Celebrate the wins: Acknowledge and recognise achievements. 
 
10. Anything to add to the agenda? This allows the team to add topics they want to be covered. 
 
11. Business/any issues: What’s happening with the business, both good and bad. It is important to get this out of the way early (there can be negatives that need to be addressed). End with positives so that the team leaves the meeting on a high. 
 
12. Training: Keep it fun and lively. Get everyone involved. A great way to get people learning fast is to set them a topic they need to work on and use it as a ‘teaching topic’ in the following meeting or meetings. 
 
13. Action items: Each person is to note down what they have committed to completing before the next meeting. 
 
14. Share action commitments: Each person should read out their commitments to the group. 
 
15. Finish on time!
 
Oh – and if everyone isn’t already, why not try a standing meeting? 
 
Have a great day, 

Andrew

Are you too controlling?

Are you too controlling?

In order to run a Freedom Farm or a business that can run without you, you must overcome any fear of losing control. 
 
You will need to become extremely comfortable hiring people (even people to pay your bills and manage your bank accounts) and then get out of their way. 
 
This is a really big constraint holding so many great farmers back. 
 
Many of you will think that if a job is to be done, it needs to be done by me.  
 
If you want to run a great business, this is the wrong mindset.  
 
The mindset to focus on is ‘Who can I find to do this job for me?’ 
 
Or ‘is there a system I can implement to do this job for me?’   
 
This one small shift in thinking can speed up your rate of success by ten times! 
 
Be careful of allowing your fear of losing control to hold you back.

A simple idea to see significant growth in your business…

A simple idea to see significant growth in your business…

My first business (22 years ago now) was a business coaching franchise (called Action Coach). I was part of a global franchise group, and there were about 400 of us in the franchise in Australia.  

It cost me $80k to buy and then $1,500 a month plus 5% of my revenue. 

It was expensive, but I was an apprentice in business coaching and business. 

As part of the franchise, we would attend a 3-day business conference twice a year. 

I would hear what successful coaches were doing, and it was a great way to listen to the latest and greatest ideas. 

After every one of these, the average billing per coach across the board would increase by at least 20%.  

When reflecting, I realised that these conferences were essential. 

It was a considerable effort (expensive and time-consuming) to get to these conferences, but you would leave feeling really motivated, and you would learn from the best. 

During my time at Action Coach (5 years in total), the benchmark of an average coach grew from a billing of $12k per month (per coach) to over $25k per month five years later.   

This is thanks to innovation and people working out how to work smarter. 

Interestingly, the average coach outside of Action Coach was lucky to make $70k a year. 

The thing is, this is available to you… 

Most of you are innovating and finding smarter ways to do things.   

The problem in Ag is this information is often kept to yourself and just not shared. But there are farm owners out there running their business in a way that would cause you to question if it’s even possible. 

When I saw a coach earning $200k a month at Action coach, I was doing maybe $20k a month at the time. So seeing this just made me go ‘wow!’ And then I followed this up with ‘How can I do this myself?’ 

In my last year at Action Coach, I was able to achieve this myself. I did not think I could in my wildest dreams when I first started, though. 

There are three stages to belief: – 

  1. Hear about it 
  2. See it 
  3. Do it

How can you get yourself into a coaching or mastermind program or something where you get to surround yourself with farm owners doing a lot better than you? 

So, you can hear their story, which will shift your paradigm of what is possible. 

It’s vital for you to get out there and attend industry and business events, particularly events where people are encouraged to share and give back and pass on their success (rather than keeping to themselves). 

I would argue that this is your highest priority and would lead to more success than almost anything else. 

Regards, 

Robbo 

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