What a wonderful man

What a wonderful man

Peter Van Beek was an 80-year-old that would stand near a roundabout next to our house and wave to the traffic almost every day. 
 
We would often drive past him, and our kids would get so excited and wave like mad to him.  
 
He brought so much joy to our kids and many others around the Sunshine Coast. 

He passed away recently. 
 
I felt sad when I drove around the roundabout this morning.   
 
There are now hundreds of flowers in the spot where he waved. 
 
A small gesture like a wave can make other people feel so good. 
 
I will miss him.  
 
He has also been my teacher.  
 
A tiny bit of kindness goes such a long way. 
 
To treat everyone you meet as though you know them well (not like a stranger).   
 
A smile, a wave, and a kind gesture can make someone else’s day. 
 
Regards, 
Andrew 

You never want to be the smartest person in the room…

You never want to be the smartest person in the room…

Why do so many people resist help? 

Why are some people so open to receiving help from others, yet others reject it? 

Why do people defend what they know and struggle to remain open-minded to other viewpoints and receiving feedback to live a better life? 

The most successful and happy people I know have a huge desire to improve themselves.  They are constantly seeking feedback and looking for any help they can get to give them an edge. 

They read or listen to books regularly, attend personal and professional development courses, and ALL of them have a coach or a mentor to guide them. 

Navigating business (and life) is hard, and I can promise you it’s ten times harder if you are doing it on your own. 

I believe it’s not an option anymore to do it on your own. You miss out on so much by ‘winging it’ and trying to evaluate and make every decision without the help of others. It will cost you so much more by doing it this way. 

A coach or mentor has already been there. They have navigated the terrain you are in, and they have experienced the challenges you have faced. 

They can see things you can’t and can save you thousands of hours of effort because they have already made the same mistakes. 

Take me (as an example).   

I’ve been mentoring business owners for 22 years. 

If you decided to become a coach tomorrow, wouldn’t you agree that having just a few hours with me might help you reach your goals sooner? Could I share some of my mistakes and help you avoid them? Could I help you fast track your success? 

Of course I could. 

Getting some coaching and mentoring is guaranteed to help you (if you listen and implement any suggestions). 

Ask yourself, ‘could an experienced farmer or business expert save me years of effort?’ 

So many people consider coaching as a cost without analysing the cost of NOT doing it. 

Coaching is for winners, NOT losers.  

Successful people seek coaching. 

I don’t know one professional sportsperson who doesn’t have one.   

Coaching is designed to help you see a return on any investment you make. 

It’s designed to help you become a better business leader but also a better partner, parent, sibling, child and friend.   

It will work on all areas of your life at once.   

It’s so much more than just creating a better business and making more money.   

It’s about becoming the best version of yourself. 

And you owe it to yourself to do this.  

Our next intake for coaching is coming up in June, so if you feel like it’s time for you to step up, please reply to this email, and we can send you some details. 

Farm Owners Academy has a full guarantee on our coaching program. Try us for up to three months, and if you don’t get value, we will provide a full refund.   

That is how confident we are with our coaching program. 

But if you don’t like us, please get some help from someone.   

Robbo 

P.S. if you are the smartest person in the room, you are the dumbest.  Our goal is to surround ourselves with people who have more knowledge than we do, and we put our ego to one side and ask for help

 

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 

FEAR OF MISSING OUT?

Enter your details to get useful tips and ideas to help you grow your business
SUBSCRIBE NOW
close-link

Subscribe to Freedom Farmer Blog

Tips and tricks delivered to your inbox to help you on your freedom farming journey
SUBSCRIBE NOW
close-link


Farm Owners Academy

Farm Owners Academy © 2015 - | All Rights Reserved | ABN 93 624 830 128 | Ph 0447 184 167
 Terms & Conditions | Privacy PolicyDisclaimerContact Us

FOA Facebook FOA Instagram FOA Twitter FOA Youtube