“If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you’re right.” This quote is credited to Henry Ford but I’ve heard it said by many over the last couple years. As I put away my Christmas things on New Year’s Day this quote kept running through my mind. It is a challenge to our mindset. Are we going into a task/project/season with an “I got this” attitude or are we going into it thinking we’re already doomed? The latter thought seems to be the default for most of us, including me. Personally, my husband and I have 1000 dreams we’d like to see come to fruition over the next 60 years and though we work each week toward our 1, 5 and 10 year plans it seems we get nowhere! Ten whole years is a lifetime away. Alas, we will have to wait. In the meantime, and with a positive attitude, we can do the small, daily tasks that will add up to monumental change in the year(s) to come.

You, too, can have a positive attitude and outlook even when the markets are down, the weather is crummy, the cows are out and your partner is sick. How? Intentionally. You have to intentionally choose the positive. Every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. Intentional means done on purpose or deliberate. You have to deliberately choose to make the best of all situations. You have to control only what’s controllable and let the rest be. Are you caught in a bad financial situation, fighting with your partner, or wondering how the farm transition thing is going to work? What are simple, small, intentional steps you can take consistently, every day, to start working in the right direction? Although you can reset any time during the year, January offers a nice, clean slate.

I challenge you to start 2019 with a positive (and realistic) mindset. Intentionally choose to see the opportunities when challenges arise. Remember, if you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you’re right.

This publication offers some wellness tools you can use during times of farm stress.

Mary Keena
mary.keena@ndsu.edu
Extension Specialist