Life, A Trail of Decisions

Every day of our lives, we make decisions. Some are critical and some not so important, but each one leads us in a direction as we maneuver our trail of life. How we arrive at our decisions, and whether we make a good or bad choice, can have a huge impact on our life and on others.

As children our decisions were simpler…what books to read, what sports to play, or what friends to hang out with. Even so, such decisions began to form a foundation for us to build upon later in life. Then, it is whether to go to college, join the military, or land that first job. If it is off to college, where to; if to work or the military, for what company or which branch will it be.

Then comes the marriage decision…do we or not, and if so, when and to whom. Nothing can be more important than deciding who we will share our life with and perhaps raise a family through the good times and the bad.

At any stage of life, career decisions can abound. What talents have I

been blessed with that I especially want to use? What type of work do I want to do? Where do I want to live? Then, there are decisions on possible promotions or changing jobs, opportunities with different companies, or moving to a different area or state that can all pop up. Even in our later years, when to retire or at least begin to slow down are decisions we must ponder.

For some, tough decisions are easy to make, while for others, they can be quite stressful. Some fret and stew, some talk to friends and family to gain insight, and some pray. No doubt, some do all the above.
Regardless how you make decisions, do not fear the outcome. We all make mistakes; we all have regrets. Show me someone who doesn’t make any mistakes, and I will show you someone who doesn’t do much. After all, it is not the poor decisions or mistakes that define us; it is how we respond to them.

For more insight into making good decisions, see "Making High-Quality Decisions" elsewhere in this newsletter.

5763 Commercial Business Manager - Eastern US

Highly respected agriculture company is seeking a Commercial Business Manager for their Eastern Corn Belt soybean processing operation.

5756 Merchandiser - Midwest

Agricultural industry leader is seeking a Merchandiser with 3 to 7+ years of experience who is ready and willing to grow as the company continues to expand. You will learn the entire business as you work with a variety of customers and other professionals, including accounting, logistics, quality control and finance.

7662 Seed Department Manager - Illinois

A large and progressive agronomy retail company is seeking an experienced individual to fill the role of Seed Department Manager. This role is part of the Senior Management team and is fully responsible for the seed division of their business.

6236 Animal Nutritionist / Nutrition Services Director - Central US

Animal feed industry leader is seeking an experienced Animal Nutritionist with an entrepreneurial spirit who will enjoy leading their nutritional services while wearing a variety of hats.

6234 Business Development Manager - Latin America

Highly successful Midwest-based agricultural hedging and consulting firm is seeking a Business Development Manager to work in a vital role on their client service Latin America team. Their clients produce, consume, process, and export commodities throughout the world.

5765 Grain Location Manager Trainee - Illinois

Highly respected and successful grain company is seeking a Grain Location Manager Trainee for one of their modern and well-maintained facilities. The successful candidate will be able to come into one of their locations and train to ultimately step into a Location Manager role.

3903 Agronomy Sales - South Central Illinois

Experienced agronomy salesperson is needed in south central Illinois. This is an established customer list of $4.5 to $5.0M in sales. The company is seeking someone who presents themselves in a professional manner, as you will be partnering with your customers to provide them with sound agronomic advice, recommendations, and products to help them succeed.

5744 Commodity Merchandiser - Iowa

Respected agricultural company is seeking a Commodity Merchandiser with excellent problem-solving skills to work with their commodity team to keep ingredients supplied to their plants.

Speaking of high-quality decisions, in just 140 days, or 20 short weeks, our family gained two beautiful new members as our son got married in October and our daughter in March. They both committed to life mates for whom their mother and I had been praying for over 20 years. How excited we are to see our family grow and to enter this new phase of life.

In both cases, it is fascinating to see how the college they chose, the first job they took, and the location of that job has made a big impact on who they married. Now, we can relax a bit and begin to enjoy our family. The innumerable decisions dealing with the weddings are behind us; now, we can enjoy a new set of exciting opportunities (and decisions) that await as they each begin their journey of building a strong, God-honoring marriage.

What a great blessing and whirlwind the past several months have been for our family. Yes, many, many decisions, large and small, yet so many wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.

Few things will improve the quality of your life more than learning how to make high-quality decisions. Yet amazingly, no one really teaches us how to do it. Not in grade school; not in high school. Most college majors don’t require courses in critical thinking or decision making. Has anyone ever told you that their parents sat them down one day and said, "It’s time for me to teach you how to gather information, assess that information, think critically and then make a high-quality decision?"

The Internet has made things worse. Why learn decision-making skills when Google has thousands of "experts" with an answer? All those answers then introduce the Paradox of Choice, which leaves many feeling overwhelmed and looking for somebody else to make decisions for them.

A September 2021 Inc. magazine article reported that the average adult makes approximately 35,000 decisions per day. (Do you suddenly feel tired?) Decisions fall on a continuum ranging from the unimportant (do I go to lunch at 11:45 or Noon?) to the critically important (do we launch this product?). The consequences of important decisions can change our careers, and sometimes our lives.

Do you have the grit to not give up and stay true to the course, no matter how difficult it may be? Are you competitive and possess a strong sales mentality where every “no” is just one step closer to a “yes”?

If so, and you have a passion for connecting with and helping people, plus a strong agricultural industry background in agronomy, grain, or other areas, please contact Dave Allen. We would enjoy having a discussion with you about how a recruiting career may be a great fit for you.

Founded in 1995, AGRI-SEARCH is a professional recruiting firm providing clients with customized recruiting solutions in various niches within the agricultural industry. Our success results from our industry focus, our specialized approach to recruiting, and our staff's lifelong roots in, dedication to, and vast understanding and knowledge of the agricultural industry.

At AGRI-SEARCH, our mission states that we “are committed to serving the agricultural industry with integrity, passion and excellence by assisting our candidates to reach their career goals and helping our client companies build successful teams.”