October 28th 2023

Four Percent

This week we drilled cover crop seed in the Jump field, and I mentioned this morning that I thought it was some of our best work this season. The weather was good, soil was easy to work, and our lines were probably the straightest they've been. It was the seventh time we've drilled seed, and although I think Sam certainly deserves a heap of credit, I also think we're improving a bit each time. I recently talked with my sister and she mentioned that she and her boss have a running theme of improving "just four percent" everyday. I tend to operate from an all-or-nothing mindset. I shirk the idea of improving only four percent and instead embrace the assumption that I can completely reinvent myself and attain complete perfection overnight. Yet, again and again, I'm reminded that lasting change is a slow process. Every single turn with the horses the timing gets a little better, every pass gets a little straighter, every field improves, every season we tweak just a few things. Everyday we can work toward just four percent. Instead of being crushed under short lived success and burnout, we can look back at a steady progression and refinement. Why am I rushing into change as if I have no time? Why am I scrambling as if I'm afraid this spark of inspiration will get snuffed out? And why do I snub my nose at a measly four percent? I think we're often inclined to see, and therefore appreciate, the really big things, and sometimes it can appear as if they come out of nowhere. One of my mentors told me once, "It isn't magic. It's hard work." I've thought about that phrase a lot in many different contexts. I think it fits here as well. For every big achievement there are so many days where we have to show up and try to improve just four percent.