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I used to think I was patient.
I worked with other people’s kids and never lost my cool. I gave grace when others were learning something new. I understood that growth takes time.
Then I had my own kids. And started my own business. And realized something that knocked me flat:
I’ve never once given myself the same patience I extend to everyone else.
The Cattle Feeding Lesson
A few years back, I started feeding cattle on our family operation again.
This wasn’t new to me—I’d spent an entire summer doing it at a large feedlot nine years earlier. Back then, I was accurate. Fast. Good at it.
But this time? I was working with older equipment. A wagon instead of a truck. And I was slow.
It took me almost three hours to load, mix, and feed one load.
The whole time, I was comparing. To my husband, who could do it in half the time. To the version of myself nine years ago who had it figured out. To everyone who wasn’t me, standing in that barn, fumbling with equipment and making excuses.
When I finally confessed to my husband that my load wasn’t very accurate, he looked at me and said: “It’s okay. It’s your first load.”
That stopped me cold.
The Comparison Trap We All Fall Into
Here’s what I realized in that moment:
I was comparing my Day 1 to someone else’s Day 1,000.
Of course I was slow. I was learning. Again. With different equipment. In a different season of life.
But instead of giving myself grace, I was frustrated I wasn’t already good at it.
Sound familiar?
Maybe you’re not feeding cattle. But you’re probably doing the same thing I was.
You’re comparing your early-stage business to someone who’s been at it for five years.
You’re frustrated your marketing isn’t working—even though you just started trying three months ago.
You’re mad at yourself for not knowing what took someone else years to figure out.
You want the harvest. But you’re still planting seeds.
Where Else Are We Doing This?
That day at the barn was a mirror for every other area of my life where I wasn’t being patient with myself.
My gut healing? I wanted it fixed now.
The growing business? Should’ve been profitable a year ago.
The meat business we were building? I wanted the market and the supply and the systems—immediately.
My own journey of rediscovering who I was after years of just surviving? Absolutely not waiting for that.
I wanted to know. I wanted to arrive. I wanted to be done learning.
But here’s the truth nobody tells you:
If you don’t slow down and be patient with yourself in the journey, you miss the lessons that actually build something solid.
Growth doesn’t happen at the destination. It happens in the mess. In the slow mornings. In the loads that take three hours instead of one.
You can’t skip the process.
And you can’t compare your process to someone else’s.
You’re Not Behind
Friend, if you’re reading this and feeling the weight of comparison—if you’re frustrated with how long it’s taking to build your business, heal your body, find your rhythm, figure out your next step—I need you to hear this:
You’re not behind.
You’re not too slow.
You’re just in a different season.
The woman you’re comparing yourself to? She had different soil. Different weather. A different starting point.
Your timeline is your own. Your growth is your own. Your harvest will come when you’re ready—not before.
Stop rushing. Stop judging. Stop expecting yourself to already be good at something you just started.
Keep moving forward. One step at a time. One load at a time. One season at a time.
You’ll bloom when you’re ready.
And not a moment before.
You Don’t Have to Do This Alone
Friend, if you’re tired of feeling behind while everyone else seems to have it figured out—you’re not alone.
Come join us in Thriving Through Farm Life, where we’re learning to build at our own pace, in our own season. No hustle required. Just real women, real struggles, and real support.
Because the truth is, growth happens better in community than it ever does in isolation.
I’ll see you there. 💕
As I’ve grown as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So, I MADE MY OWN. You can look at it on the link below and buy it on Amazon.
Look inside the 2025 Planner 2026 is very similar
Don’t want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
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