Things I Learned With a One-Wheel Harrow

I’ve been thinking about farming lately. It’s January. In the South, farmers are already thinking about how soon they can get out and plow their fields.

I’ve never been a farmer myself, but when I was a kid—right through high school—my dad kept a garden that usually ran a couple of acres. My sister and I were part of the labor force.

We planted.

We cultivated.

We weeded. Check that. I weeded.

We harvested.

And then we helped prepare food for long-term storage.

I learned every step of the process.

But nothing mattered more than planting.

No seeds, no crop.

Ever.

So let’s talk about business gardening.

Prepare the Soil

Before you plant anything, you prepare.

Training.

Homework.

Your presentation.

Your pitch.

But also your mindset.

Get your heart right.

Your mind focused.

Your hands and feet ready to work.

Prepared soil doesn’t guarantee a harvest—but unprepared soil almost guarantees disappointment.

Plant Generously

Seed is inexpensive.

In business, seed looks like time, conversations, energy, networking.

Plant a lot.

Don’t worry about “using it all up.”

You’ll get more time and energy tomorrow.

Plant even where the soil doesn’t look perfect, because this is where the analogy breaks down a bit.

Plant without trying to control the outcome of every seed.

If you’re looking for opportunities—work lots of sources.

If you’re raising money—never selling, always informing, always listening.

If you need help—interview constantly.

If you want reach—talk to a lot of people.

Plant everywhere.

You don’t always know which patch of ground gets the right mix of sun and water. Growth has a way of surprising you.

And keep planting.

Plant while you’re cultivating.

Plant while you’re harvesting.

Plant in the morning. Plant in the evening.

Every conversation is a potential connection.

Eventually, you’ll notice it’s hard to completely shut off and “just relax” without your work drifting into the conversation.

That’s not a problem.

That’s proximity to momentum.

Most of us don’t need practice relaxing.

We need practice focusing.

In the winter, my dad would often sit at the window looking out at his garden—quiet, motionless. It looked like rest. It wasn’t.

He was planning next year’s harvest.

Fertilize Carefully

I don’t mean piling manure onto your business pitch.

I mean credibility.

Track what you’re doing.

Document wins.

Remember lessons.

Credibility compounds. It makes future planting far more productive.

Weed Ruthlessly

Weeds don’t announce themselves.

They choke productivity quietly.

Weeding looks like:

• Answering questions

• Addressing objections

• Removing bottlenecks

• Fixing inefficiencies

Do it often.

Small weeds are easy. Big ones cost you seasons.

Some weeding is forward-looking—plans, forecasts, windshield checks.

Some is rearview—results, reviews, postmortems.

At first, it’s hand-pulled.

Then it’s pencil and paper.

Then spreadsheets.

Then technology.

Our garden was only two acres — not big enough for real farm equipment, just big enough for a one-wheel harrow. Three slow passes up and back on each 300-foot row of corn. It was a miserable job for a 15-year-old coming home from two-a-day football practice, and I resented every step of it at the time.

Years later, I can see that the discipline mattered more than the corn. That kind of unglamorous, repetitive work has a way of paying off in places you don’t expect. Use whatever tool fits the size of the garden — but weed regularly.

Water the Garden

Water is follow-up.

Attention.

Staying in touch.

People don’t want to be sold to.

They want to be heard.

No one cares about your goals.

Everyone cares about their own.

So make their goals matter to you.

Pour it on—not with repetitive pitches, but with real attention and commitment.

Businesses don’t grow because someone “got lucky.”

They grow because someone planted, tended, weeded, watered—and kept going when it wasn’t exciting.

Gardens reward patience.

So does business.

And like my friend said—you don’t have to love it.

You just have to like it enough to keep showing up.

Afterword

Last Sunday afternoon I received a “Happy New Year” message from someone I last spoke with in 2023, when I autographed her copy of Flipping Houses in Ten Days.

Two and a half years later, she’s finally reading it — and that afternoon she became one of the newest members of the FAN Training program.

I’m reminded again that seeds don’t sprout on our schedule. Some take a season. Some take years.

Sow generously. Be patient. Growth has its own timing.

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