We have all heard the saying “good things come to those who wait”.

In farming this concept is front and centre.

The time to reap the rewards in farming is always somewhere off in the distance. There’s no such thing as instant gratification in the running of an agribusiness operation.

The same principles apply to wealth creation.

It’s very rare to get rich overnight, the most common route is increasing equity in assets over time. In farming, this usually across a few generations.

This get rich slow principle is a good one to instill in young people at an early age.

I spoke to a young person recently who had just bought her first house at the age of 31 – she thought she had left it too long. I reminded her she is a long way ahead of the average punter out there and doing a great job.

I also think there is another maxim that goes something like “what you focus on happens”. This can be both good and bad. There are plenty of examples of both.

I have known a past AFL footballer from the time he was a young kid. He was constantly carrying a footy around and practicing.

Lots of young kids are obsessed with sport when they are young, but the interest wanes across the years as other activities gain more prominence. Not in his case though – a couple of years of AFL footy, a couple of SANFL flags, and lots of country footy. His determination and focus paid off in anyone’s language.

On the other side of the ledger is the event you wish not to happen, actually coming to fruition.

Classic examples in farming are when driving machinery through a tight gateway and you’re focusing on not hitting the gate, and guess what happens – you hit the gate. Or you hope the sheep don’t find the gap in the fence and, of course, they find the opening. I am not sure what the psychology is behind this phenomenon, but there seems to be plenty of anecdotal evidence of this concept.

It’s a bit like when you get a new car, and all of sudden you see a lot more of the same vehicles on the road. Of course, they were always there. It’s just you weren’t aware of them until you started thinking about your car. Our thoughts are so powerful, and it’s crucial you don’t let negative thoughts get a life of their own and run away like the proverbial out of control train.

It’s probably not possible to have a constant flow of positive thoughts coursing through your body all the time. But, it’s certainly worthwhile identifying when negative thoughts come up and at the very least recognise them and consciously begin to think differently, before the negativity takes hold.

In lots of ways, I think the old saying “slow and steady wins the race” is true.

But along with this is the ability to focus on the right things to enable you to win the race. The combination of the two will turbocharge growth and happiness, as you navigate life.