Ep 407 | How to Leverage the ""4 Fields"" Approach to Improve Your Life and Business

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Just a few days ago, my business partner Ben Kinney, who many of you who are listening to No Days Off, uh, you know Ben, uh, you know that he and I run Metrics Masterminds together, and we're part of a couple other companies together, and he is a big fan of the No Days Off podcast. Guy is listening probably to more episodes than most anybody I know. Thank you, Ben. Uh, just a few days ago, my buddy Ben was talking about what he calls the 4 fields analogy. Not quite sure where he, he got this, this analogy from, uh, or maybe he came up with it on his own, but I think it's a brilliant one, and I think it's one worth sharing with the No Days Off Nation. So the four fields analogy is oftentimes used in farming, and it's of course also used in business, hence why we're talking about it. But the idea is that the four fields analogy represents the different stages of growth and progress and resource management. The idea here is that in order to create what I'd call a sustainable cycle you should always be working on your fields or your projects at different stages of development. So this way, there's always something in each phase: the active work, the investment phase, the development phase, and the return. So here's how the, the 4 Fields model works in both farming and how I think it also works in business. So Phase 1, we're going to call that the actively tilling phase, or just tilling for short. This is really the preparation phase. So in farming, in this particular stage, you're actually preparing the land for planting. So it involves clearing and tilling the soil and making sure that the land's ready to support new seeds. This is oftentimes the most labor-intensive phase, but it's critical because the success of the crop actually depends on the quality of the preparation that's being done. Now, in business, a business example, if I'm going to use business context here, this is when you're laying the groundwork for a new project or a new initiative. It could be the R&D, the research and development. It could be building out a new system. It can't— it could just simply be creating a strategic plan. It's about putting in the necessary foundational work before launching. This is the preparation phase. So Phase 1, actively tilling. Phase 2, this is seeding, or in a business sense we call it the investment phase. So in farming, seeding, this is when the actual seeds are planted in the field that was prepared, that was tilled. This is not as labor— as, uh, labor-intensive as tilling, but it's a crucial phase where you plant the potential for future growth. The results are not immediately visible. As anybody who's planted anything knows, you're dropping seeds, you do not see immediate results, and there's an element of patience and nurturing that's involved. So in farming, this is the actual seeding phase. Now in business, a business example, this is where you're making investments. So you've laid the foundation, but now you're making investments. Groundwork's there. Now you're putting the idea into motion. Maybe it's marketing a launching campaign. Maybe it's hiring a key player to the team or a new team altogether. Maybe it's starting the actual product development. There's no immediate return on this sort of activity just yet, but there's planting seeds for future success. So in business, first we're gonna till, which is your R&D, which is the groundwork for the new project or the new initiative. Then you're gonna get to the seeding phase, which is really the investment phase. Is when you're investing in maybe marketing or a new team or new teammates or just starting product development and it takes time. Phase 3, this is the growing phase, or in business we'd say development phase. Phase 3 is growing. So this in farming, this is after seeding, the field's going to enter into the growing phase. This is where the crops begin to sprout. This is when the crops begin to develop. And this requires what? Constant care. I'm not a farmer, but I know during this phase it's sensitive. Why? Because we're watering, we're fertilizing, we're weeding. The idea here is to ensure that the crops thrive. And while the crops are growing, you're not harvesting them yet, but you're just seeing the progress. This requires some patience as well, but it requires you to protect all the efforts that have been put in thus far. In business, This is the phase where you're nurturing your projects that are in development. This is when things are moving forward, but you're still not at the point of seeing a tangible return. It's a critical phase because it requires consistent attention. It requires you to monitor progress, and it requires to potentially adjust strategies if that's necessary. Now, the last phase— this is harvesting phase of the 4 fields. This is This is the harvesting field, right? And in business, this would be kind of the return phase. So farming, this is when the crops are fully grown and it's time to reap the rewards of all of this hard work. The field is yielding the produce. Now you can gather the harvest for sale or for its use. So it's the culmination of the preparation, the tilling. It's a culmination of preparation, planting, and the growing phases. This is harvest. Now, in the business example, this is where you see the results of all of your efforts. This is where profits start to roll in. This is where customers begin to be acquired. This is when you're completing a successful project. You're collecting the ROI from all of the work that went into tilling and seeding and the growing phases. This is a big concept to think around. This is something I think we all need to get our heads around because the greatest businesses I know have a continuous cycle of growth. See, the key to the 4 fields is to always have a field that's in each phase. If you're only harvesting, for example, you're going to eventually run out of crops. If you're only tilling or you're only planting, you're going to always be waiting for results. So you have to balance how you're playing in each one of these respective fields. Actively tilling prepares you for the next opportunity. Seeding invests in future growth. Growing keeps the momentum going. And harvesting allows you to enjoy the fruits of your labor and reinvest in future projects. So in business or in life, I think we could apply this model because it helps us create what I would say is a sustainable flow of work where you're always planting new seeds for the future while nurturing and harvesting past efforts. This concept, we see it used all across business, especially in real estate, especially in sales, and even in personal development. The idea being to ensure long-term growth and success. When we think about sales, this is creating new leads. This is— now I've created these leads, now I'm making, you know, seeding efforts. I'm reaching out and creating dialogue. Then the growing phase is when I'm nurturing that relationship and ultimately driving to some sort of commitment with that customer. And then harvesting is the actual sale itself. You have to have people in each one of those respective phases of the sales cycle. Otherwise, you're going to run into some bottlenecks. You're going to run into areas where you're at a standstill. So your focus today is to think through the 4 fields analogy and look at your business, look at your life, and ask yourself, how am I playing in each one of these respective fields? And am I tilling? Am I seeding? Am I growing? Am I harvesting? Are some areas more heavily weighted than others? And as a result, there's going to be delays or things that stand in your way, or maybe new investment needed or new people needed. As you apply this concept, where are you seeing the opportunities and what are you going to do about it? That's all I have for you today. The No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.