In recent times I have been listening to a podcast called Founders. The podcast host reads biographies and autobiographies and distils his key learnings into a one-hour episode. It’s almost like reading the books, without doing the grunt work.

I was put onto this podcast by someone else. There are useful snippets of information everywhere if you have your eyes and ears open. Recommendations in any walk of life are worth taking on board. If someone you trust is telling you something, it pays to listen.

There are many constant themes that emanate from the founders of various businesses across time, such as grit, determination and patience are key ingredients in the longevity of any business. The adage of a 40-year overnight success is still true.

Another striking feature of a number of these founders is the abject poverty they were born into, with this driving them to succeed in life, as they didn’t want their children to have the same upbringing they did.

Subconscious conditioning is a very powerful force. Often, people don’t know what is driving them to succeed but, if you listen to their backstories, the reasons seem quite apparent.

This of course can work both ways – some people are unable to break the shackles of their ordinary upbringing, and they mirror whatever happened to them in later life.

The former is much preferable to the latter, if possible.

People who have started with not much is just as prevalent in farming as it is in the general community. If you dig deeper in the past generations of lots of farming families, you will normally find tales of hardship and struggle.

The present generation may be reaping the rewards now, but the strength of the farming business wasn’t always on solid ground. 

I think we all need to reflect on those who came before us and be thankful for the lessons metered out. We all need to start with the cards we’re dealt and go from there.

I can think of numerous people I have come across throughout the years who started with very little and have amassed sizable operations across many years.

Some of these people have taken big risks, and others have just grown incrementally across the generations.

I was speaking with a young farmer recently, who said his parents always said to acquire land when you can, and then don’t sell.

This has worked well for this farming family. I have known them for many years and admire them greatly. I would describe them as the quintessential quiet achievers.

Some people are blessed to know their lifelong purpose and passion quite early in life, others take a lot longer to find their internal driver.

One thing I have observed through the years is those who have the drive to grow and prosper, normally do.

I have seen this trait in many farming families. Lessons learnt from a young age can be quite instructive. It pays to heed these lessons.