Episode 23: Why Struggles Don’t Exist Outside of You

What if the struggles you face on your ranch—or in your life—aren’t actually “out there”? In this episode, Christine shares a bold but freeing perspective: struggles don’t exist outside of you. They’re not weeds, armyworms, bills, or the lack of rain. They’re invitations—feedback that shows up so you can grow.

Christine explores how what feels like a crisis to one land steward might be an opportunity to another, and how reframing struggles as feedback transforms them from roadblocks into lessons. You’ll hear personal stories, practical examples, and a reminder that nature is always communicating if we’re willing to listen.

👉 If this conversation sparks something for you and you’re ready to stop symptom-chasing and start managing the whole, join Christine for the Regenerative & Resilient Pathway Masterclass kicking off on September 15th. This is where you’ll learn how to interpret the signals from your land, shift your mindset, and create the systems that move you toward thriving stewardship.

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Connect with Christine Martin:
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Transcript

Christine Martin: 0:19

Hello there, Christine here for another episode with you and today I wanna share something that might sound a little strange at first, but it's been life-changing for me and I think it could shift how you see both your land and yourself. So here it is, struggles don't exist outside of you. I know that sounds really bold and maybe it's even confusing, so let's unpack it together. Many of us believe our struggles are out there. It's not our problem. It's an external problem. The weeds are a problem. The army worms are a problem. The lack of rain is the problem. The low bank account is a problem. We point outward and we think. If I can just fix that thing, then my struggles will completely disappear. So what do we do? We start Googling solutions at 11 o'clock at night because we're desperate. We copy what the neighbors are doing because at least they look like it's working for them. We throw out seed, we spray pests, we roll out hay. Duct tape fixes everywhere, and somehow we're still stuck with the same problems, just with less sleep and less money in the bank. And what is it that we really want? What are we really wanting to work towards? We want healthy animals. We want green pastures. We want enough income to cover expenses and maybe even a little breathing room. Heck, a vacation would be great. We want the peace. The peace that we know what we're doing is working, but when we're chasing symptoms, that vision keeps slipping through our fingers. Here's the shift. Struggles don't exist outside of you. Think about it. What feels like a huge struggle to you might not phase someone else, and what feels easy for them might feel impossible to you. That's because struggles aren't universal. They're subjective. They live in how we see and respond to them. Remember learning math as a kid, even something like two plus two felt enormously hard. You had to count on your fingers, you had to concentrate. It was a struggle, but now you don't even think about it. The struggle disappeared, not because math changed, but because you grew. That's the pattern of struggles. They don't go away because the world changes. They go away because we change. And let me tell you this, I've lived this for years. I was a professional people pleaser. If someone needed help, I was there. If there was an event, I volunteered. I thought being good meant saying yes to everything. But what it really meant was that I was running around like a chicken with the head cut off except less productive. At least the chicken eventually stops running. I just kept piling on more. My calendar was packed. I was exhausted. And if I'm honest, I was quite resentful. At the time, I thought the struggle was outside of me. I thought if people would just stop asking me for things, I'd be fine. Or I think if I just had more hours in the day, I'd finally feel balanced. The struggle wasn't out there. It was in me. The real struggle was my inability to say no. It was a story I was telling myself that pleasing everyone else mattered more than honoring what I actually needed. And once I started learning that lesson. Everything shifted. The exhaustion wasn't punishment, it was feedback. It was my invitation to grow into somebody who could set boundaries, who could align my time with what truly mattered to me and what once felt impossible. Saying no, protecting my energy became second nature, and it's the same on the land. For one rancher, the big struggle is cows losing weight. It feels like a crisis. For another. It's just information, a signal to adjust, grazing or add supplementation. Same skinny cows. Totally different stories. For some weeds feel like the proof the land is broken. For others. Weeds are like free consultants pointing out which minerals are missing. Pretty cheap soil test. If you think about it, for some the struggle is money bills are piling up, market shifting, it's overwhelming. For others, those same numbers are the nudge. They need to diversify or shift enterprises. Same reality, different interpretation. And then there's time. For some, the struggle is the endless to-do list running from one crisis to another. For others, that same workload is a clue to start building systems so they're not the bottleneck. For others, that same workload is a clue to start building systems so they're not the bottleneck. Same chores, different lesson. See the pattern? The struggle isn't the weeds or the cows or the bills. The struggle is how we see it and what lesson we're willing to learn. Here's the bigger connection. Struggles are feedback. Struggles are the lessons we need to learn. They're like dashboard lights on your ranch truck. One light says, feed bill too high. Another says, pastures need more rest. Another says, stop saying yes to every dang request. You can slap duct tape over the lights if you want, but eventually the truck will remind you who's the boss! In stewardship, those lights show up as gaps. Sometimes it's a knowledge gap, like not knowing how to plan grazing or measure recovery. Sometimes it's a skill gap, making financial decisions, monitoring soil health. Sometimes it's a mindset gap. People pleasing, reactive decision making, copying what everybody else is doing instead of managing for your own context. The point is, struggles don't mean you're failing. They mean the system is giving you feedback. There are opportunities for you to learn. So instead of asking, how do I make the struggle go away? Try asking, what's the struggle here to teach me? That's how you turn struggles from roadblocks into invitations, from frustration into growth. So I want you to think about your biggest struggle right now. Maybe it's weeds. Maybe it's money. Maybe it's the lack of rain. Maybe it's your calendar. Got it in your mind? Okay, now ask what lesson might this struggle be trying to teach me? That's where the opportunity lies. If this episode sparked something for you, I'd love to hear about it. Send me a message on Instagram at Thriving Land Stewards, or share what lesson your current struggle is teaching you on the post and tag me. And if you're feeling stuck in your stewardship, if you're overwhelmed, if you're reacting, instead of planning, or you're just spinning your wheels, let's talk. Sometimes all it takes is one conversation to see your situation in a whole new way and keep an eye out. In a couple of weeks, I'll be teaching more about shifting from symptom chasing to managing the whole in my Regenerate and Resilient Pathway masterclass. I'd love for you to join me when it kicks off on September 15th. Until then, remember, struggles don't mean you're failing. They mean you're leveling up. I'll talk to you next time.

8:04

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.