Ag State of Mind with Jason Medows

It's been a busy season for my family and I. I'm taking care of lots of cattle in addition to my full time job. I've not had a lot of time for anything extra this past week as Keri has been out of town and I've had lots of broken down vehicles. I think you can understand that it's been a little bit stressful for me and I've had to completely pause all the extra things in my life I've abstained from social media. I didn't release a podcast this week. I haven't really listened to anything besides church talks and my favorite music to help me turn down the dial on my stress. Whenever we find ourselves in these busy and stressful seasons, it's important to find techniques that help us dial down the stress. I found something that's a little silly and counterintuitive but it absolutely works! What is it? It's simple... I just smile! Whenever I find myself in a negative self talk pattern, I smile.,Every time I smile, It is a reminder that things will turn out ok. It reminds me that I have plenty to be grateful for and that I am beyond blessed.,Now I'm not sure if you're willing to look like a dufus and smile every time an intrusive thought or point of stress pops into your brain. Regardless, I believe everyone should find these turn down techniques to help them get through even their roughest times. I suggest you find that for yourself.

JIll Carr and I have been connected through social media for some time now. Recently, Jill has taken on a new business as a podcast manager/consultant, helping other entrepreneurs leverage themselves with podcasts. Jill and I talk about the challenges of podcasting and how we like to go about the ins and outs of podcasting. We then talk about some of our favorite resources. Jon Acuff's name comes up again as she recommended the book "Soundtracks." I love the work that Jill is doing. To find her work go to https://jillcarr.co/

There is so much talk about work/life balance in todays world. In fact, I gave a talk on this exact concept this past weekend at a Missouri Farm Bureau conference. Balance is something that always seems to be a moving target and it’s a hard, even impossible thing to achieve. Shane Kinne has come up with a different term for this concept to help change the way we look at it. Shane runs a consultant and coaching business with his wife Whitney where there main focus is this concept called alignment. Alignment is a new way to frame the concept of balance where all that we do, whether that be farming, parenting, town job, hobbies, etc is all in alignment with each other. It’s a value based system where you are looking at principles and how your actions reflect your principles. This was a great conversation with Shane and I’m so excited for you to hear it. Make sure you tune in to hear some of Shane’s favorite personal development resources. I’m so glad we got to finally have this podcast as technology was definitely not working in our favor. The joys of podcasting with rural internet.

What does it take to get 4 ag podcasters together to record a podcast together? A lot of prep and planning and months of advance notice apparently. Jared Luhman, Bryan Alexander, and Clay Conry are hosts of the Herd Quitter, Ranching Reboot, and Working Cows podcasts, respectively. We had the idea of the 4 of us getting together and recording a podcast. It took several months for us to make it work but man am I glad we did. We started off chatting about our regenerative ag journeys. About how context matters so much in any operation. We then chat a bit about what podcasting looks like for us and the benefits and enjoyment and education we have obtained from podcasting. We also chat a bit about the state of the American food system and where we see it going. What a great episode. I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording. We hope to have another episode together, this time all of us being in the same location, sometime soon.

Welcome to another episode of the Ranching Side Hustle podcast. For those of you who are new to the podcast, RSH is a subseries within ASOM where my buddy Tyler Keckley and I talk about the challlenges and day in day outs of running side hustle ranching businesses. Tyler and I both have town jobs (banker and pharmacist respectively) as well as our beef enterprises. Today, we chat about what has been going on with our ranch enterprises. We talk about what the next year may hold and a few of our new endeavors since we last talked. We chat about how we are doing a few things differently and how we are hoping they pan out for us in the next couple of months. We then shift gears completely and begin to talk about our half marathon trainings. We both have 13.1 we are scheduled to run in April. Talking about the grind that those sort of trainings can be and the challenges we have to fit it all in. Sign up for my newsletter and get a free PDF of my morning routine at https://www.subscribepage.com/agstateofmindmorningroutine

We are about 1 month into the new year. Lots of us are being put to the test on our New Year's Resolutions. Maybe some of you have committed to learning a new skill. Last week, I read an article in Horse & Rider magazine titled "Be A Good Beginner." It it, it listed 5 attributes of what it takes to be a good beginner. 1)Be a Learner 2) Ask For Help 3) Be Goal Oriented 4) Be Willing to Work 5) Know When to have fun. Using this as a framework can be very helpful in doing all the things it takes to be successful at learning a new skill. We are never too old to learn something new. We just have to be patient and humble. Sign up for my newsletter at https://www.subscribepage.com/agstateofmindmorningroutine

A very exciting episode today friends. I had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting with fellow podcaster Emily Reuschel. Emily is a full-time entrepreneur, passionately serving rural women through life coaching, speaking, masterminds, retreats, digital content, and my Podcast: Gather in Growth. We chat today about her journey from non ag girl to a woman fully immersed in the world of agriculture. We then talk about our personal development journeys and what directions they have taken us. We chat about how doing things in a different and niche way can be a special kind of challenge when running rural businesses. We finish up by talking about Emily's favorite personal development resources. Books listed are The Road Back to You, Atomic Habits by James Clear, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done and Quitter by Jon Acuff. Find Emily online at https://emilyreuschel.com/

It's the new year so that means it's time for goals and resolutions. I know that so many people are talking about this right now and even more have their own opinions on it. Personally, I like New Year's Resolutions and love to try and keep myself accountable to a goal. I talk today about SMART goals and how to utilize them in achieving your goals. I also talk about a concept called Habit Stacking I learned from reading James Clear's Atomic Habits. I start off the podcast by talking about all the great guests we have lined up for the new year. Thanks for all of your support for the Ag State of Mind Podcast!

Happy New Year!! Today Keri and I record another podcast together talking about balance. There are a lot of self help gurus who tell you that there is no way to achieve balance. That balance is something that is a myth and if you are balancing then something isn't getting the proper attention. We push back on that notion a little because we can balance the most important things to us. We just have to be very intentional and mindful of what we are trying to do. We talk about that today and talk about how we get all the things we do done. About how having a core value list helps us make decisions on what we spend our time and money on. We close out the podcast talking about what 2023 has in store for Keri and our yoga business. Apologies for the poor audio quality on this episode. I recorded on the wrong mic and it shows. If anything, it shows me how important the investment of a good microphone is to a podcasting business! Find Keri on Instagram @kerimedows

Several years ago we had a guy that my dad was dealing with to ride some horses in exchange to buy some colts. My dad was trying to make a deal with him when the guy said that he wasn't sure he wanted to be taking on that kind of work because he was getting ready to turn 40. My dad instantly replied to him, "What I wouldn't give to be 40 years old again." This has stuck with me. Now that I'm nearing age 40, I see dad was right. I know that 40 is not old and that people so often use age as an excuse to abstain from things that scare them. I talk a bit about that here today. Go to www.patreon.com/agstateofmind to support us!