Pulling the “Weeds” from Your Mindset

If you know me personally, you have heard me talk about working on the farmland my fiancé his parents own. I probably mentioned pulling sod and laying it in dirt to prevent soil erosion, spending hours pulling weeds, and laying down mulch to prevent said weeds from returning. This project has been about 3.5 years in the making, and I’ve been lucky enough to get to contribute to it in the last 2 years.

As I’ve put on my boots and gloves and headed out to do one of the many tasks that this land asks of us, thoughts about growing a business keep popping into my head. Metaphors and comparisons have been swirling around for a few months, and I thought it was a great time to share some thoughts, advice, and lessons from this time in my life.

To Start Anything, You Must Get Rid of the Weeds.

If you have read my personal blog Savvy Goes Surfing, you also know that mental health plays a very central role in my experience of life. Working through negative thought patterns, growing myself mentally, and becoming more mentally strong are common themes in my blog.

I love pulling weeds on the property, and for a while I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. After some weeks of pulling weeds (the winter rains had made weeds grow everywhere and for a while it was an uphill battle) it dawned on me why I enjoyed this (arguably annoying) process.

Seeing them removed, seeing the space I cleared, and getting the feeling of accomplishment each time gave me a sense of deep satisfaction. Completing a visual task with a measurable outcome bolstered my spirits and lifted my mood.

The Tenacity of Weeds

Weeds are a nuisance. They grow where they are not wanted and grow rapidly. If you don’t watch them, they spread faster and faster. This is what the property was at when we first started working on it; there were weeds everywhere and clearing them all out seemed impossible.



When I first started my journey towards a more balanced and healthier mind, everything in my head seemed insurmountable. Old thoughts and belief systems lived in every inch of my mind. They had spread speedily and surely through my psyche, taking over everything else I was trying to grow. The thing about weeds is that they are exceptionally good at growing and spectacularly resistant to death.

Before I knew about making piles of weeds, I would leave the pulled plants scattered around the land. A few weeks later, what I thought were dead plants had developed new roots. I had to become vigilant, persistent, and honest with myself about these weeds.

In the next post, we’re going to dive in deeper about what our weeds are and how to stay conscious of them so we can be proactive!