The Farmer Approach

The Farmer approach

The unfortunate truth is that we have become more and more expectant of instant results. We have become a people with less patience and wanting things fast. The rise of the digital age has only exacerbated the issue and it’s having a significant effect on our physical and mental well being.

If I could emplor that you take the farmer approach. Now, I am totally leaving myself up for grabs here because I actually know pretty little about farming, but in my head it goes a little something like this…

Farmers don’t plant a seed in the ground and expect to have some corn a few weeks later. That’s just madness right. I’m pretty sure they have to make sure the ground is right first, how long this takes I have no clue. But then they will sow the seed, and then water and tend to the crop over months to get ready to harvest it, and the food is ready to eat. Is the job then done?

Nope, they start again, on a new cycle of growing that crop, because the food they grew won’t last them their whole life,  and on and on it goes. There will be days when farming is tough, they don’t want to go out and do it, but it must be done, and there will be days when they may not have to do much at all.

I don’t see why we can’t look at our health and fitness with this same approach. People start the gym and think after 2 weeks, how come i’m not deadlifting 100kg. What’s the rush? Have you built the foundation of your strength first? Are you going to do deadlifts until you get to 100kg and then stop doing them? Or are you going to be doing them for many decades to come?

And when it comes to our nutrition the outlook is even worse. Because of the fad diet scene that was rampant in the 80’s and 90’s, people expect quick results.

What makes you think that you should lose 5kg in a month? Because it worked that time before when you ate nothing but tomato soup… and how did that go and how long did that last?

Nutrition should be about eating in a way that both serves your body and gives you energy and also doesn’t leave you feeling so sad that it’s unsustainable. The yo-yo dieting way of life needs to die a quick death because there is nothing fun or sustainable about it. We need to learn to be patient, do that little bit of work on ourself each day like the Farmer would.

And when a goal may be reached, we can set a new goal, because 6 weeks of training isn’t going to keep that bone density up for the rest of your life.

Health and fitness shouldn’t be something we see through a short term lens. If that is your approach it will only leave you feeling unfulfilled. And when you take that short term lens off it all just seems a lot more ok.

Anyway, just my opinion.

Lawrence x