Speer: Conquering Resistance
Matt Adams: Did you catch the Next-Gen spotlight featuring Matt Adams? It’s a great story! Admittedly, I’m biased; Matt is one of my former students at Western Kentucky University. None of his current success is surprising; he was both proficient and curious as a student and maintained those same qualities in serving his constituency as an extension agent.
Obstacles: All that aside, Matt shared some great wisdom for all of us. He was posed with the question about the obstacles he’s had to overcome in his business. He responded this way:
There’s always been a lot of negativity in agriculture, whether it’s real apparent or not. As a young guy starting out, you get a lot of people trying to give you advice and a lot of that advice is actually discouragement. I had people tell me that I didn’t need to worry about full-time farming. I should have a few cows, go get a job in town and be happy. I shouldn’t strive for anything more because it was too risky. I really let that hold me back for a long time. I worked as a county Extension agent for about 12 years. I listened to people say I wasn’t farming enough acres, there wasn’t enough opportunity or I couldn’t make enough money. I think hearing those kinds of comments probably kept me from being a full-time farmer sooner.
War of Art: His response had me recalling one of my all-time favorite books, The War of Art, written by Steven Pressfield. (Not to be confused with The Art of War by Sun Tzu.) Many readers likely know Pressfield’s first book, The Legend of Bagger Vance, which went to become the hugely successful movie by the same title.
Pressfield’s War of Art is geared towards writers, but the underlying principle of the book, Resistance (yes, capital R), is applicable to any occupation, endeavor, or achievement. He explains we encounter Resistance in “any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity.” And further, “Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance…[it’s] the most toxic force on the planet…To yield to Resistance deforms our spirit. It stunts us and makes us less than we are and are born to be.”
Leaping For The Rim: However, one form of Resistance is particularly challenging: the negativity which comes from others. Or more specifically, giving credence to what others think. Pressfield explains, “When a writer [or farmer or rancher] begins to overcome his/her Resistance – in other words, when he/she actually starts to write [or farm or ranch] – he/she may find that those close to him/her begin acting strange…
That’s because the nay-sayers will always attempt to sabotage your aspirations – especially as you begin to make real progress. Matt Adams rightly observes that, “a lot of that advice is actually discouragement…”. That is, the setting doesn’t matter – you’re always going to find Resistance in the form of other people’s opinions. And here’s the key phrase from the book that sticks with me most: “The highest treason a crab can commit is to make a leap for the rim of the bucket.”
Conquering Resistance: Vince Lombardi once received a rejection letter with the following admonition: “No future in coaching, try something else.” Had he heeded that advice, the Super Bowl trophy would possess some other name or title – and more importantly, we’d have missed his incredible teaching and coaching that extends far beyond football.
The coffee shop talkers, the Debbie-Downers, the Negative Nellies always want you to be stuck in the status quo. They’d rather pull people down than to climb the ladder themselves. Most of their so-called advice is worthless. D.L. Moody says it like this: “I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.”
Thank goodness Matt Adams and his family didn’t listen to that noise and negativity and crisis mongering; he’s too busy conquering Resistance and seizing opportunity. And in so doing, providing vision and inspiration and leadership for the rest of us.
Nevil Speer is an independent consultant based in Bowling Green, KY. The views and opinions expressed herein do not reflect, nor are associated with in any manner, any client or business relationship. He can be reached at nevil.speer@turkeytrack.biz.
