One Section at a Time

It’s 4 AM. Your alarm goes off. It’s time to get everything in the trailer and head to a show. Life in the livestock industry is not for the weak. Late nights, early mornings, long days, and lots of life lessons. The problem is life is always changing. We have to take what happens one day at a time. It is like blow drying your animals. There are no wrong ways to do it. No matter what, you need to take it, one section at a time. If you walk into any show barn and ask everyone how to dry your animal, there will be 10 different answers from 10 different people. The reason is, there is no single right way. There are many right ways to do it and still have the same finished product, a dry animal. 

If you have ever worked hair on cattle, blow drying can be a super satisfying task. You get focused on one task and doing the best job at that task. We have all seen cattle that have not had the proper time in the barn or attention to hair that is needed. Water, comb, brush, and blow dryer are critical tools to making any animal look ten times better. That focus and attention to detail is important and at the end of the day, can make a huge difference in the overall look, appearance, and sometimes placing of an animal. 

There are some basic principles that everyone uses when blow drying a calf. The big question is, where do you start? Some start at the head, some on the legs and belly, others top down. The combinations are endless. The biggest suggestion by most people would be, take it one section at a time. If you show white cattle or cattle with white on their underlines, you better have that belly and brisket dry before you let them lay down. I am sure many of you have heard that from a parent one or two times in your life. 

We can and do apply the same principles in life. We knock out different areas of our life struggles one section at a time. People tend to fight the easiest parts before tackling those tough life choices. Same things apply to blowing your animals. Legs and bellies are super important to get dry. They are also easier in my opinion. Sometimes knocking off the “low hanging fruit” is a good way to get certain obstacles out of the way. It will allow time to focus on those more difficult tasks. 

The brisket region is a tough one. Sides, bottom, folds, there are many obstacles to get that region really dry. This is like a work life balance. The struggles we all have is splitting that time between the work family and real family.  Some are lucky to have home and work in the same location. This one seems to take the longest to dry. Mainly because you have water and moisture falling down from the upper part of the animal that might still be wet. We tend to bring home our problems and frustrations from work. This makes it difficult to have that balance in life and enjoy the important moments and people in our life. 

The top down approach is pretty popular when it comes to drying cattle. Seems like the most methodical way to get an animal dry. No matter though where you start, you still have to take it one section at a time. Blow drying a calf’s head is either super easy or really hard. Some cattle hate to have their heads messed with while others don’t care. When attacking blowing cattle this way, it allows you to keep pushing all that water and moisture down to drip off the animal and work that hair as you go. There is nothing wrong with approaching life in the same way. At the end of the day, keep pushing. 

The tough regions may seem impossible to tackle. We see all these hurdles and obstacles ahead. What we have to do is just like drying a calf - dig in and start getting it done. The most effective way to dry a calf is to work on it one section at time and don’t stop. Follow through to the end. This is the same principle we should be applying to everyday life. There is no one right answer on how to dry a calf. There is no one right answer on how to live your life. When we focus on one section of our life and improve it, we can then move on to the next section and improve it as well. After a while, you have a completely dry calf, and maybe a better life. 

There is an old saying, how do you eat an elephant? Now, for clarification, no one is going to eat an elephant. It is a metaphor for life, or the job at hand. So, how do you eat an elephant? The answer is and always will be, one bite at a time. The reason is, after a while, you will have that elephant, 20%, then 40% then 80% eaten. Apply that to blow drying cattle and then also to your regular life. That task ahead may seem hard and daunting. If you take it all one section at a time, you will succeed and get that animal dry, the elephant eaten, and some of your biggest goals accomplished in life. 

Leo Babauta wrote in his book, The Power of Less - “Protect your time - it's your most valuable commodity. Guard it with your life.”