Welcome, fellow farmers, to a blog that will revolutionize your approach to life on the farm. To ignite your passion for learning and self-improvement, I’ve carefully selected a captivating collection of books that will reshape your farming experience. So, let’s dive into this extraordinary literary adventure!

Find an audiobook or borrow these great titles:

Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. This is a great one to help you start thinking differently as a farmer about why you don’t need to do it all yourself. It aligns perfectly with one of the values I teach as a coach: Gain greater ROE (Return On Energy) to run the family farm business better than ever before. This book is not about working harder or finding more time to do work. It’s about designing the freedom to engage in high-value work that brings you energy and fulfillment. Martel digs into the practical steps that will allow you to start buying back time immediately, while also developing operating procedures and hiring practices to ensure rapid and robust growth. He will also teach you how to invest in your newfound time wisely—on the farm and at home—so you keep building your business while living your best life.

Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World by Jennie Allen. As farmers, we’re often tempted to do life alone, whether because we’re so busy or because relationships feel risky and hard. But science confirms that consistent, meaningful connection with others has a powerful impact on our well-being. We are meant to live known and loved. But so many of us are hiding behind emotional walls that we’re experiencing an epidemic of loneliness. This book is very helpful to my coaching where a lot of my work is based on empowering your farm family by creating rich conversations and relationships. Because the truth is, you need to be the one reaching out– you can’t expect people to do it for you.

Why Aren’t You More Like Me by Ken Keis is a favorite. This book provides a road map for knowing yourself better and for understanding others.

Each person has a distinct Personal Style and being aware of it can increase success in life by 80%. We have done these personal style assessments on our own farm family which was very helpful for getting things done.

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. was such an amazing book. It provides a great structure for being better at and observing what is going on around you, expressing feelings, asking people what they need at this moment, and making a request for action. This book is a great tool to help you find common ground and move forward in your communication. It aligns perfectly with my 1-on-1 coaching to facilitate tough farm conversations around transition.

Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward by Dr. Henry Cloud, offers this mindset-altering method for proactively correcting the bad and the broken in our farm businesses and our lives. Cloud challenges readers to achieve the personal and professional growth they both desire and deserve—and gives crucial insight on how to make those tough decisions that are standing in the way of a more successful business and, ultimately, a better life. I highly recommend it. It is important to work on giving people permission to leave farm family situations that are not healthy or workable so that they have other options for building their businesses.

So, my fellow farmers, use this blog to order audiobooks, buy books or borrow e-books from your library. They are your allies, guiding you toward a future where your farm flourishes, your connections deepen, and your personal growth reaches new heights. Embrace the wisdom within these pages and let it permeate every aspect of your farming journey. Remember, every day is an opportunity to learn, evolve, and manage the resources at your disposal.

Happy reading and be sure to send me your book recommendations!

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Elaine Froese now celebrates 20 years as a certified Hudson Institute Coach and 42 years of marriage. Fill in the form on this page to sign up for her insights.

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