Episode 14- Are You Managing the Whole, Or Just the Parts?

Episode 1 of the Why You're Not Thriving (Yet!)

In this episode, Christine invites you to rethink the way you make decisions on the land by exploring one powerful question:
 Are you managing the whole—or just reacting to the parts?

From pulling goat weed by hand to learning from legendary land steward Betsy Ross, Christine shares her own shift from symptom-chasing to systems-thinking. You’ll hear how this mindset shift led her to discover the ripple-effect power of holistic management—and how even well-intended decisions can create unintended consequences, just like what happened when wolves were removed from Yellowstone.

✨ You’ll learn:

• What holism really means in land stewardship
• Why managing for wholes—not parts—creates more aligned, resilient outcomes
• A simple way to think about decision testing (and why it matters)
• Common traps land stewards fall into—and how to avoid them

This episode is the first in a special series leading up to the free 3-day masterclass, Why You're Not Thriving (Yet!):  A Masterclass to Help You Stop Spinning Your Wheels and Start Managing with Purpose , happening April 16–18, 2025

 If you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels and start managing with clarity, purpose, and alignment, this series (and masterclass) is for you.

👉 Register here: https://thrivinglandsteward.kit.com/17bcc4cea3

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Let's make regenerative ranching and farming more intentional, profitable, and fulfilling. I’d love to hear your biggest takeaway from this episode—DM me on Instagram or schedule a call to chat about it!

Connect with Christine Martin:
Website: https://thrivinglandsteward.com
Email: info@thrivinglandsteward.com

Transcript

Christine: 0:19

I wanted to start off this episode by asking you a question, are you managing your land or are you just managing your symptoms? I used to think weeds needed to be eliminated. It turns out it's just nature's way of showing me what nutrients the land needed. In this episode, we're digging into what it really means to manage the whole and why focusing on the parts might be holding you. Back when I first became a land steward 24 years ago, I purchased five acres of overgrazed abused land, which had a healthy stand of goat weed, otherwise known as woolly croton. Under the earlier stated mindset that weeds needed to be eliminated and honoring my value and desired outcomes for the regeneration of the land. I decided that instead of mowing down the goat weed, I would pull the goat weed out by hand roots and all thinking that if I removed the roots, they wouldn't grow back. After a couple years of pulling out the goat weeds and the goat weed population not die back, I was desperate to find a solution. I called in Betsy Ross, who focused on soil remediation techniques to enhance land productivity, who is now deceased to come help me with the goat weed population. I will never forget her consultation. She hadn't been on my property for 10 minutes, and as she scanned my pastures, she said, you have a calcium deficiency where those goat weeds are growing and you have a manganese issue where those ragweeds are growing. She then proceeded to teach me that mother nature does not like to be naked, and she doesn't waste energy bringing something up just so Monsanto can kill it. So she covers herself with weeds and those weeds are trying to correct the nutrient imbalance in the soil. I credit Betsy Ross was starting to shift how I looked at my land stewardship, what I hadn't realized back then. Every action on the land creates a reaction. Just like tossing a pebble into water. You might only see the splash at first, but those ripples spread far and wide, often in ways we don't expect. Pulling goat weed by hand wasn't just about the plant. It was a reaction to something deeper, something I hadn't seen in the bigger picture. And once I started thinking holistically. I could finally see how all the parts were connected, how one small change in grazing or water flow or timing would ripple across the whole landscape. So let's talk about what manage the whole really means and how we can become more intentional about the ripples we create. The Oxford dictionary defines holism as the theory that parts of a whole are an intimate interconnection. Such that they cannot exist independently of the whole or cannot be understood without reference to the whole. To me, holism means recognizing that they're not isolated parts in nature. Just whole systems influencing other whole systems. Every decision we make on the land sends ripples through everything else, from soul health to livestock performance, to family stress and financial sustainability. Managing holistically means working with that reality, not against it. Think of your land like a symphony orchestra. Each instrument, your soul, your animals, plants, weather. Finances isn't just playing solo, they're constantly responding to one another. If you only manage the trumpet section, the whole song falls apart. So when we say holism, we're really talking about seeing the land, the animals, the people, the money, all of it as one interconnected whole. Nothing happens in isolation. Everything you do sends ripples through the system, and that's where decision testing comes in. Because once you recognize those connections, you can't just simply make decisions on instinct or habit anymore. You need a way to pause and ask, is this action going to create the kind of ripple I actually want? Holistic decision testing gives us a clear, grounded way to check our thinking before we act. So our decisions don't just feel good in the moment, but actually move us towards our long-term vision. Making a decision on the land is like tossing a pebble into a pond. You don't just get the splash, you get ripples, and sometimes they reach far beyond what you expected. That's why we test decisions, not in isolation, but for how they ripple through your entire context. One of my favorite and most powerful examples of this ripple effect is what happened in Yellowstone National Park. Back in the 1920s, wolves were removed from the park because they were seen as a threat to livestock and game population. But without the wolves, the elk populations exploded and they began overgrazing young willow and aspen trees along river banks. That small decision, remove one predator set off a chain reaction. The landscape change. River shifted course. Songbirds and beavers disappeared. All because one piece of the whole was removed without understanding its relationship to everything else. That's the power of managing wholes and the danger of not managing for wholes. Now granted, most of us are not managing elk herds in a national park, but we're still making decisions that ripple through our land and lives. Here are a few common ways that lands stewards fall into that trap of managing in parts instead of wholes. An example is feeding hay every winter. because of poor grazing recovery instead of planning for stockpile forage. Another example is spraying for weeds year after year without asking what the soil is trying to repair. The third example is investing in equipment without testing if it's a real weak link in your operation. I know we don't make these choices out of laziness. We make them because we're doing the best we can with the perspective we have. But once you start seeing the whole W-H-O-L-E, everything changes. This isn't just about land, it's about stress, relationships, and long-term success. A client of mine left this review after our work together. When starting a new venture, it can be daunting to identify the most important things to focus your time and resources on. Christine helped us not only identify the strengths and challenges with our particular property, but taught us how to monitor, evaluate, and make decisions for ourselves. Once they saw the whole picture, it was like a fog lifted. They started making confident, aligned decisions. Managing the whole W-H-O-L-E isn't harder, it's just more intentional. If this episode resonates, you're going to love what I'm teaching in my three day masterclass. Why You're not thriving yet, A masterclass to help you stop spinning your wheels and start managing with purpose. This isn't just a masterclass. It's a wake up call. You learn why so many regenerative efforts fall short and how to avoid the same trap, the power of thinking in wholes, not parts. So your land, finances, and quality of life aligned and support each other. How to spot that weak link in your system. I'll give you a hint. It's not always what you think. And why? Grazing management isn't just about grass. It's about time, intention, and outcomes. This masterclass isn't just about giving you more tools you won't use. This is about shifting how you think. So the decisions you make align with your values, your vision, and nature's rhythm.

8:51

Thanks for listening to Regenerative Agriculture, thriving as a modern rancher. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, share with fellow ranchers and leave a review. Together we can regenerate our lands, our profits, and our lives. Until next time, keep thriving.