September 29, 2010 40 Comments

Before the Winter

Rooftops

Before winter, farmers must plow their fields under. They must can the vegetables they can’t eat. They must do their trading to have the right kind of stock in the cupboards for the cold times to come.

We’ve lost this quite a bit, haven’t we? Few of us know any farmers. Few of us have to make any particular plans for the winter, except for our sport of choice, or maybe if we live in an old drafty house. Beyond that, the seasons are just another window we click off at some point.

But there are benefits to thinking about seasons, even if you don’t match them to the real weather outside your door. What does autumn mean to a blog? What does the harvest of all your efforts mean for you? And how do you prepare for the hardness of a long, cold winter?

Before the Winter

  • Write a few letters to people before the mail can’t be delivered.
  • Thank those who helped you take in the harvest, and who helped you just by giving you a kind word.
  • Make sure you have enough seed (ideas, prospects, potential new customers or products) to last the winter.
  • If you don’t, trade or buy what you’re missing.
  • Cut down any excess that won’t be eaten, after you find out whether anyone else can use it.
  • Make notes to reduce excess for the next year.

Interesting how this advice would work for bloggers and other new media makers, eh?

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  • Janice

    so profound!

  • http://ajleon.me ajleon

    Fabulous post, Chris. Love this -> “Thank those who helped you take in the harvest, and who helped you just by giving you a kind word.” It’s a constant, yet subtle theme in your writing. That I always love to be reminded of :)

  • http://ajleon.me ajleon

    Fabulous post, Chris. Love this -> “Thank those who helped you take in the harvest, and who helped you just by giving you a kind word.” It’s a constant, yet subtle theme in your writing. That I always love to be reminded of :)

  • http://www.addingitup.com Rod Watkins

    Great analogy. Personally I love winter. Even moved my family to the Northeast for just that reason. I find that winter is a more thoughtful time.

  • http://twitter.com/iconic88 iconic88

    Great post Chris!

    The comparison you use here reminds me of my folks who grew up growing vegetables/fruits on plantations back home in Tonga. In Tonga, we always try to grow more than we needed so that the excess can be shared with the extended family. It’s a value that creates a virtuous cycle of giving within the community when it’s done without any expectation of return.

    In the South Pacific, we don’t really have a winter. It’s cooler or hotter, wet or dry. We know that marlin prefer a certain temperature and once the ocean temperatures rises above this temperature, there’ll be less marlin, so we know when to harvest there.

    Preparation is the key! and knowledge of what lies ahead is crucial to knowing what needs to be done today.

    Thank you for the reminder Chris!

  • http://twitter.com/iconic88 iconic88

    Great post Chris!

    The comparison you use here reminds me of my folks who grew up growing vegetables/fruits on plantations back home in Tonga. In Tonga, we always try to grow more than we needed so that the excess can be shared with the extended family. It’s a value that creates a virtuous cycle of giving within the community when it’s done without any expectation of return.

    In the South Pacific, we don’t really have a winter. It’s cooler or hotter, wet or dry. We know that marlin prefer a certain temperature and once the ocean temperatures rises above this temperature, there’ll be less marlin, so we know when to harvest there.

    Preparation is the key! and knowledge of what lies ahead is crucial to knowing what needs to be done today.

    Thank you for the reminder Chris!

  • http://twitter.com/iconic88 iconic88

    Great post Chris!

    The comparison you use here reminds me of my folks who grew up growing vegetables/fruits on plantations back home in Tonga. In Tonga, we always try to grow more than we needed so that the excess can be shared with the extended family. It’s a value that creates a virtuous cycle of giving within the community when it’s done without any expectation of return.

    In the South Pacific, we don’t really have a winter. It’s cooler or hotter, wet or dry. We know that marlin prefer a certain temperature and once the ocean temperatures rises above this temperature, there’ll be less marlin, so we know when to harvest there.

    Preparation is the key! and knowledge of what lies ahead is crucial to knowing what needs to be done today.

    Thank you for the reminder Chris!

  • http://twitter.com/iconic88 iconic88

    Great post Chris!

    The comparison you use here reminds me of my folks who grew up growing vegetables/fruits on plantations back home in Tonga. In Tonga, we always try to grow more than we needed so that the excess can be shared with the extended family. It’s a value that creates a virtuous cycle of giving within the community when it’s done without any expectation of return.

    In the South Pacific, we don’t really have a winter. It’s cooler or hotter, wet or dry. We know that marlin prefer a certain temperature and once the ocean temperatures rises above this temperature, there’ll be less marlin, so we know when to harvest there.

    Preparation is the key! and knowledge of what lies ahead is crucial to knowing what needs to be done today.

    Thank you for the reminder Chris!

  • http://twitter.com/iconic88 iconic88

    Great post Chris!

    The comparison you use here reminds me of my folks who grew up growing vegetables/fruits on plantations back home in Tonga. In Tonga, we always try to grow more than we needed so that the excess can be shared with the extended family. It’s a value that creates a virtuous cycle of giving within the community when it’s done without any expectation of return.

    In the South Pacific, we don’t really have a winter. It’s cooler or hotter, wet or dry. We know that marlin prefer a certain temperature and once the ocean temperatures rises above this temperature, there’ll be less marlin, so we know when to harvest there.

    Preparation is the key! and knowledge of what lies ahead is crucial to knowing what needs to be done today.

    Thank you for the reminder Chris!

  • http://noahfleming.com/ Noah Fleming

    Nice powt Chris.

    But we do know lots of farmers. I was so worried for all their farms when facebook went down last week :-)

    Seriously though, nice thoughts and thanks for sharing them. They’re important.
    Noah

  • http://noahfleming.com/ Noah Fleming

    Nice powt Chris.

    But we do know lots of farmers. I was so worried for all their farms when facebook went down last week :-)

    Seriously though, nice thoughts and thanks for sharing them. They’re important.
    Noah

  • http://noahfleming.com/ Noah Fleming

    Nice powt Chris.

    But we do know lots of farmers. I was so worried for all their farms when facebook went down last week :-)

    Seriously though, nice thoughts and thanks for sharing them. They’re important.
    Noah

  • http://noahfleming.com/ Noah Fleming

    Nice powt Chris.

    But we do know lots of farmers. I was so worried for all their farms when facebook went down last week :-)

    Seriously though, nice thoughts and thanks for sharing them. They’re important.
    Noah

  • http://noahfleming.com/ Noah Fleming

    Nice powt Chris.

    But we do know lots of farmers. I was so worried for all their farms when facebook went down last week :-)

    Seriously though, nice thoughts and thanks for sharing them. They’re important.
    Noah

  • http://www.getinthehotspot.com/ Annabel, Get In The Hot Spot

    When I lived in New Zealand we had about 16 types of fruit growing in our garden. If there was a glut of feijoas (they’re yum) we’d share them with the neighbours. When they had more mandarins than they could eat they’d share them with us.

    The same principle works with social media and in all business. In my business (web design) we love to find other good companies we can give work to when we have too much to handle and they often reciprocate.

    There are more than enough readers for blogs, it’s just a case of sharing them around and matching the right readers with the right blogs:)

    A lovely timely post Chris. But we’re just heading into summer here in Australia:) We don’t really have autumn or winter where I live – I miss it!

  • http://www.getinthehotspot.com/ Annabel, Get In The Hot Spot

    When I lived in New Zealand we had about 16 types of fruit growing in our garden. If there was a glut of feijoas (they’re yum) we’d share them with the neighbours. When they had more mandarins than they could eat they’d share them with us.

    The same principle works with social media and in all business. In my business (web design) we love to find other good companies we can give work to when we have too much to handle and they often reciprocate.

    There are more than enough readers for blogs, it’s just a case of sharing them around and matching the right readers with the right blogs:)

    A lovely timely post Chris. But we’re just heading into summer here in Australia:) We don’t really have autumn or winter where I live – I miss it!

  • http://www.getinthehotspot.com/ Annabel, Get In The Hot Spot

    When I lived in New Zealand we had about 16 types of fruit growing in our garden. If there was a glut of feijoas (they’re yum) we’d share them with the neighbours. When they had more mandarins than they could eat they’d share them with us.

    The same principle works with social media and in all business. In my business (web design) we love to find other good companies we can give work to when we have too much to handle and they often reciprocate.

    There are more than enough readers for blogs, it’s just a case of sharing them around and matching the right readers with the right blogs:)

    A lovely timely post Chris. But we’re just heading into summer here in Australia:) We don’t really have autumn or winter where I live – I miss it!

  • http://www.kherize5.com Suzanne Vara

    One of the greatest things about seasons is that there is change. We have no choice in the matter. We have go dig out our winter clothes or go and get some new ones. We have to stop and do this (sure we can procrastinate for a bit but old man winter will not be). It is here that we have stopped and given ourselves an opportunity to look at other things. We have an opportunity to change and stop the excuses of being too busy, focused on this or that, etc. as we have stopped what we “regularly” would be doing. This stop point opens so many doors to assess every season where we are, who we are spending our time with, are we spending enough time with people we care about, are we reaching out to people that are waiting to hear from us – so many things that the seasons can be a sort of an alarm clock with a really loud internal buzzer for us to stop and make change. Opportunity is there but how many do it.

    I hope that people take the opportunity to take action here and stop. I do not really have seasons here in LV as many do in other places so it is very easy to push the internal snooze button. I don’t as people around me are what matter to me.

  • http://alwayswell.wordpress.com Sandra Lee

    This is a beautiful take on the changes of the seasons – “But there are benefits to thinking about seasons, even if you don’t match them to the real weather outside your door.” And the questions that follow about the autumn of one’s blog are brilliant. I’ll be ruminating on these questions.

  • http://darraghkelly.me Darragh Kelly

    I agree with Rob, winter is a more thoughtful time. I love the seasons and the change they bring with them, they aré both a mental as they aré a physical state.

    Great post Chris, would love figure out how you come with these brilliant ways of joining the dots.

    Darragh

  • http://www.retirepreneur.com Donna Kastner/Retirepreneur

    On the “thanking” piece, this site is my virtual watercooler… somewhere I stop by for a few minutes between projects. Thanks for sparking good thoughts and ideas, Chris.

    Now, back to the harvest…

  • Anonymous

    I am a sunbelt kid (born in Southern Calif, live in TX)….. Winter is just what you see in the movies.

    But we still have to thank people, make plans, and enjoy the journey…. and it relates to blogging, too:

    *Thank the people who invited you to use their pool (not everyone has a pool, and a good thank you gets you invited back!)
    *Plan for what freeway you will take to get to the beach (there are lots of roads to success)
    *Decide on fruit salad or ice cream (life is short, eat dessert first)
    *Check to make sure the air conditioning is working at home, work, and in the car (sometimes things get uncomfortable when it gets over 85 degrees)
    *Get to the gym cuz you will have your shirt off (people are watching you)
    *The lucky kids have a “Slip n Slide”, but just running through the sprinklers is cool too. (Don’t just envy the neighbors, enjoy what you got)

    thom

  • http://ianmrountree.com Ian M Rountree

    Thank you, Chris. Seriously. :)

  • http://informationsecurityhq.com/ Mark Kelly

    Good analogies between sowing and reaping a harvest and the need to continually have new ideas and quality posts keeping visitors coming back. Failure to do the necessary legwork results in a poor harvest and a hungry knowledge based worker.

  • http://informationsecurityhq.com/ Mark Kelly

    Good analogies between sowing and reaping a harvest and the need to continually have new ideas and quality posts keeping visitors coming back. Failure to do the necessary legwork results in a poor harvest and a hungry knowledge based worker.

  • http://twitter.com/CoachDawnWrites Coach Dawn

    As a midwesterner who loves my drive to work where I’m surrounded by cornfields, I appreciate the analogy! I’m in the odd position of just being on my third month of blogging, so I don’t have a long history to learn from…but I have been keeping notes of what seems to work and what doesn’t.

  • http://twitter.com/cksyme Chris Syme

    What a great analogy. With our main business being a family farm, I can really relate and these are touching reminders about taking care of relational business and planning . Thanks.

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  • http://www.samrx.com/buy-penegra.aspx Penegra

    Its amazing.. just like heaven… how sweet may be the feeling in such an amazing place..

  • http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/ Chuck Frey

    In 1992, self-help author Denis Waitley published an excellent book called “Timing Is Everything: Turning Your Seasons of Success Into Maximum Opportunities.” It uses the seasons of the year as demarcation points for dreaming, goal setting, achievement and reflection, and frequently refers to farming metaphors, as you did. Some principles, as you allude to, are timeless. You can’t “cram” on the farm. There are certain things you need to do, at certain times, in a certain sequence, to be successful. You can’t skip any steps along the way. So it is with life and relationships.

    Thanks for sharing these thoughts for reflection as we enter the autumn season and begin preparing for winter, Chris!

  • http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/ Chuck Frey

    In 1992, self-help author Denis Waitley published an excellent book called “Timing Is Everything: Turning Your Seasons of Success Into Maximum Opportunities.” It uses the seasons of the year as demarcation points for dreaming, goal setting, achievement and reflection, and frequently refers to farming metaphors, as you did. Some principles, as you allude to, are timeless. You can’t “cram” on the farm. There are certain things you need to do, at certain times, in a certain sequence, to be successful. You can’t skip any steps along the way. So it is with life and relationships.

    Thanks for sharing these thoughts for reflection as we enter the autumn season and begin preparing for winter, Chris!

  • http://www.bigjobsboard.com Steve Jobs

    What a great analogy! I can really relate the farmer’s doings before winter comes. We actually are doing this right now. Canning vegetables are started already last week and we already send letters for my father for him to get it earlier before the mailers can’t send it. This is really an amazing post. You really well it said.

  • http://www.bellaverdedesign.com Suzy @ Bella Verde Design

    Instead of building robots society has become robots feeding off of non-food items, losing touch with nature and slowly dying of rust (cancer).

    If people would only revert back to nature, eat whole foods and enjoy the seasons as we are cyclical creatures. Maybe there wouldn’t be a need for so many drugs and anti-depressants.

    I believe that business should also be in tune with nature, human needs and health. If the government is going to treat a corporation like a human with voting rights, then that corporation or business should be healthy, create healthy habits within their walls, spew health to their employees etc.

    Handwritten notes, healthy foods, thanking people, sharing a smile, watching the leaves change color, all are things that are simple yet cathartic.

    Life is short, you will die at some point. Don’t you want to live it the happy way?

  • http://www.laser-beauty-cosmetics.com/laser-hair-removal laser hair removal

    With the winter about to set in and the long time waiting about to being, the final touches of the preparations to get through it is something that has gone missing these days. It used to be fun arranging for everything in the best possible manner as it was possible. The description about it just brings about the nostalgic memories of my childhood.

  • http://www.alexdumitru.com Alex Dumitru

    Prepare for the seasonal sales :D

  • http://www.blackfridayplanet.com/ William Hushburn

    That picture really looks great.

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    There’s this saying, “Save for the Rainy Day”. But here it means..”Save a lot for the Wintry days Ahead.” The biting cold of winter can be harsh and moving out can become a tedious affair. It always great to keep a good amount of stock at your home before the snow makes it difficult for you to go anywhere out. In this way, your winter will be spent in a merry way and you wont grump about the restrictions during this wonderful season. Stock Up the Supplies Fellas and have a Great Xmas and New Year. :)

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