Elephants have been trained and used by humans for over 4000 years. How is it possible for a 180-pound man to restrain an 11,000-pound elephant with a piece of rope and a wooden stake?
When an elephant is very young, it is tethered to a wooden stake driven deep into the ground. This stake is physically able to hold the young elephant despite repeated attempts to escape. After many unsuccessful attempts to escape, the young elephant eventually believes escape is impossible. This belief is carried into adulthood. When the elephant is full grown, it could easily break free from the stake – yet it never attempts to do so. This extremely powerful and intelligent creature is held captive by nothing more than its own thoughts and beliefs.
Do you suppose you and I might have a few preconceived thoughts and/or beliefs that are holding us back? Are we tethered to some outdated tradition or paradigm from which we could easily break free – if only we knew we could? How long will we allow ourselves to be held captive by our own thoughts and beliefs?
We all have paradigms that determine how we live our lives and how we run our businesses. Most cow-calf producers limit their own profit and success because they remain tethered to the “Increase Production Per Animal” paradigm. They need to make the shift to the “Increase Production Per Acre” paradigm. While one is focused on increasing bragging rights, the other is focused on increasing profits. This is Step One of the Ten Steps To Double Your Profits.