Ep. 317 - Goals and Mission Statements Are a Waste of Time
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
Release Date: 08/29/2025
Nobody's Coming to Save You Financially (Ep. 339)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
What happens when everyone expects someone else to pick up the bill? From a nightmare condo sale to health insurance chaos, this episode is a raw, unfiltered wake-up call on personal responsibility, money, and self-reliance. In this episode, Mary Jo shares a months-long real estate saga that exposed a deeper issue she’s seeing everywhere—from first-time homebuyers and realtors, to health insurance, escrow accounts, and even parenting adult children. The common theme? Too many people are handing off responsibility—and expecting others to pay the price. This episode isn’t about being...
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Windfall Alert: What Farmers Miss Every Single Year (Ep. 338)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
Is life insurance a luxury—or a necessity? In this episode of Farming Without The Bank (FWTB Ep. 338), Mary Jo breaks down Chapter 7 of Nelson Nash’s Warehouse of Wealth and explains how Parkinson’s Law silently destroys financial progress, especially when people experience windfalls of money. From selling land, paying off equipment, kids leaving the house, or daycare expenses disappearing—windfalls happen whether you notice them or not. The real question is: Where does that money go? Nelson Nash’s real-life example shows how paying off a policy loan after a windfall can feel like...
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Corporations Don’t Pay Taxes — You Do. Here’s How. (Ep. 337)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
You’ve been told corporations pay taxes, but what if that’s the biggest lie in the system? In this episode, Mary Jo breaks down who really pays for taxes, benefits, tariffs, and government programs—and why the consumer always ends up holding the bag. In Episode 337 of Farming Without the Bank, Mary Jo dives into Chapter 6 of Nelson Nash’s Warehouse of Wealth: “Lies, Lies, and Lies.” This episode exposes how taxes, Social Security, employee benefits, tariffs, credit card fees, and corporate expenses are never absorbed by businesses—they are passed directly to you, the consumer....
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Your Biggest Problem Isn’t What You Think It Is (Ep. 336)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
Everyone says farming and ranching are hard—but what if the real problem isn’t expenses… it’s how money is being used? In this episode, Mary Jo tackles the backlash around “excess money,” breaks down why being debt-free isn’t the same as being financially secure, and explains why cash flow—not comfort—is the real solution. 👉 Follow Mary Jo Here: 👉 Get the book: In this candid rant-meets-masterclass, Mary Jo responds to critics who claim there’s no such thing as excess money in agriculture. She explains why higher cattle prices create opportunities, and how...
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Commodity Prices Trap Farmers In Debt (Ep. 335)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
Most farmers still buy equipment the old way—cash or bank loans—losing years of compound growth. What if the problem isn’t your policy… It’s when the money runs through it? 👉 Follow Mary Jo Here: 👉 Get the book: In this episode, Mary Jo breaks down the “before asset” idea: running money through your whole life policy before you buy equipment, cattle, or cover operating expenses. She explains why premium is what makes you money, why loans themselves don’t, and how to think differently about “I can’t make the payment this year” when you are the banker. Whether...
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Banks Don't Want You Knowing This About Investments (Ep. 334)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
Most people believe they’re doing the right thing by maxing out their 401(k) or IRA. But what if the entire system is designed to trap you later with higher taxes, forced withdrawals, and lost control? Follow Mary Jo Here: Get the book: In this episode of Farming Without the Bank, we break down The Market Scam from Nelson Nash’s Building Your Warehouse of Wealth** and expose what most financial advisors never explain. Mary Jo dives into Chapter 5 of Building Your Warehouse of Wealth, unpacking why tax-qualified retirement plans may be one of the biggest financial misconceptions of...
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Tiny Town, Huge Risk: What Buying a 60-Year-Old Business Really Takes (Ep. 333)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
Be open-minded, ditch the negativity, and yes, you can buy that small-town business and make it work. In this episode, Mary Jo sits down with client and Iowa rancher/feed-store owner Erica Lantz, who walked away from a 14-year corporate food job to buy a 60-year-old feed store in a town of 1,000 people… during COVID. 👉 Follow Mary Jo Here: 👉 Get the book: Erica shares how she runs a 5th-generation farm with Dexter cattle, heritage hogs, hair sheep, hypoallergenic curly horses, and silky chickens while modernizing a tiny farm store, creating custom feed mixes, shipping...
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Parents Need to Teach This—Not Schools (Ep. 332)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
Is your 401(k) really a “benefit”… or did you just get dropped into the government’s boiling pot without noticing? 👉 Follow Mary Jo Here: 👉 Get the book: In this episode, Mary Jo continues breaking down Nelson's book Building Your Warehouse of Wealth (Chapter 4) and why he called tax-qualified retirement plans a scam, how government “help” actually means control, and why cash flow + financial education beat blind 401(k) contributions every time. What we cover in this episode: We walk through the history of pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs and Social Security, and how...
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Change Your Financial Future Now! (Ep. 331)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
Controlling the Banking Function in Your Life to Change Your Finacial Future! You might be saving 10% of your income… but quietly sending 34.5% of every disposable dollar to banks in interest. In this episode, Mary Jo breaks down Chapter 3 of Building Your Warehouse of Wealth and shows why how money flows is more important than the rate of return you’re chasing. 👉 Follow Mary Jo Here: 👉 Get the book: Using Nelson Nash’s “All-American Family,” we walk through where your money actually goes, why banks always win under the current system, and how using...
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Why Life Insurance Might Be Your Secret Asset! (Ep. 330)
Farming Without the Bank Podcast
Banks classify your life insurance as an asset, so why do so many people treat it like an expense? In this episode, we break down how dividend-paying whole life can be your warehouse of wealth without feeding inflation like the banking system does. 👉 Follow Mary Jo Here: 👉 Get the book: Chapter 1 of Building Your Warehouse of Wealth (Nelson Nash) hits hard: government programs, fractional reserve banking, and how we’ve become “part of the problem” by chasing cheap loans and rates of return. We contrast banks (who lend money that doesn’t exist) with...
info_outlineAre goals and mission statements really helping you succeed—or are they holding you back? Here’s why ACTION beats goals every single time.
In this episode, Mary Jo Irmen shares a real client story of how leveraging resources and strategic thinking can maximize returns in farming and ranching.
👉 Follow Mary Jo Here: https://www.youtube.com/@MaryJoIrmen?sub_confirmation=1
👉 Get the book:
https://www.farmingwithoutthebank.com/book
Instead of chasing numbers, she shows how to shift your mindset toward action and adopt a “How can I?” approach.
You’ll learn why overpaying debt might be slowing you down, how to use your money to generate more cash flow, and why surrounding yourself with the right people matters more than writing down goals you’ll never look at again.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in the cycle of planning but not moving forward, this episode will light a fire under you.
Mary Jo shares her candid thoughts on the inefficiency of writing out goals and drafting mission statements, advocating instead for actionable steps and a positive mindset to achieve business success.
Mary Jo challenges conventional wisdom and encourages listeners to focus on solutions rather than getting bogged down by goals and mission statements.
CHAPTERS
(00:00) Why action beats goals every time
(00:44) Client story: group advice vs. real strategy
(02:25) Why paying off debt isn’t always the best move
(03:58) Small thinking vs. business owner thinking
(05:39) Throw out your mission statements
(07:26) The “How Can I?” mindset shift
(08:46) Marketing and growing the business for cash flow (09:32) Building a business with future exit strategies
(10:30) Why successful people think differently
(12:20) Spotting opportunities instead of excuses
(14:18) Why action matters more than written goals
(16:42) Why Mary Jo refuses to tie numbers to clients
(19:05) Success is about people—not arbitrary goals
(20:23) The myth of 4 a.m. routines
(22:44) Why doing is better than meditating (for Mary Jo!)
(23:51) Why exercise feels like wasted time for some
(24:38) Final thoughts and call to action
(Timestamps are from the video version. Audio-only edits are always shorter since they have had more fluff removed, so the timestamps are not accurate to this version.)
📚 Grab your copy of Farming Without the Bank: 👉 https://www.farmingwithoutthebank.com/book/
📩 Email Mary Jo:
maryjo@withoutthebank.com
💬 Join the conversation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farmingwithoutthebank
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