outside world?
What if you set small performance goals per ride that you knew you could achieve and that would build your confidence? Examples of this are walking into the arena, calm and clear about the cattle, or your pattern.
It would take courage to do this, but I know you can do it. You can be the one who is responsible for growing the skills you need … and guarding yourself against negative judgments about your success status.
Now, of course, this is completely contrary to how we have been conditioned to think for a lifetime. Almost everyone from our parents, to our family, to our friends … and almost everything from ads, to show results, to who’s in the class … tout the standards of “best” or some version of measuring up.
But when you create your own scorecard, your own measures for success, then you can never truly fail. You evaluate how you have done according to you … and you alone.
Results are measured by you, not the outside world.
And when you are tempted to judge yourself by external standards alone, you still can never fail. You choose how you see your
results. You either
win or you learn.
23 / Sport and Trail Magazine
O
h, the dreaded “F” word … failure!
It’s so easy to create a grand standard in our minds that we absolutely MUST live up to, or we believe we have unequivocally failed.
Those black and white, good or no good hallmarks of success and failure cause us to focus on results, instead of focusing on how we are doing compared to ourselves.
Because of this, our brains are more worried about the results of what we do rather than the job of actually doing it.
Focusing on results often translates into a disconnect with our horses because we are anxious if we will “measure up”.
But what if you knew … really knew … that failure is truly measured by you … not the outside world?
What if you set small performance goals per ride that you knew you could achieve and that would build your confidence? Examples of this are walking into the arena, calm and clear about the cattle, or your pattern.
It would take courage to do this, but I know you can do it. You can be the one who is responsible for growing the skills you need … and guarding yourself against negative judgments about your success status.
Now, of course, this is completely contrary to how we have been conditioned to think for a lifetime. Almost everyone from our parents, to our family, to our friends … and almost everything from ads, to show results, to who’s in the class … tout the standards of “best” or some version of measuring up.
But when you create your own scorecard, your own measures for success, then you can never truly fail. You evaluate how you have done according to you … and you alone.
Results are measured by you, not the outside world.
And when you are tempted to judge yourself by external standards alone, you still can never fail. You choose how you see your results. You either win or you learn.
BARBRA SCHULTE
RIDE LIKE FAILURE IS
standard in our minds that we absolutely MUST live up to, or we believe we have unequivocally failed.
Those black and white, good or no good hallmarks of success and failure cause us to focus on results, instead of focusing on how we are doing compared to ourselves.
Because of this, our brains are more worried about the results of what we do rather than the job of actually doing it.
Focusing on results often translates into a disconnect with our horses because we are anxious if we will “measure up”.
But what if you knew … really knew … that failure is truly measured by you … not the outside world?
What if you set small performance goals per ride that you knew you could achieve and that would build your confidence? Examples of this are walking into the arena, calm and clear about the cattle, or your pattern.
It would take courage to do this, but I know you can do it. You can be the one who is responsible for growing the skills you need … and guarding yourself against negative judgments about your success status.
Now, of course, this is completely contrary to how we have been conditioned to think for a lifetime. Almost everyone from our parents, to our family, to our friends … and almost everything from ads, to show results, to who’s in the class … tout the standards of “best” or some version of measuring up.
But when you create your own scorecard, your own measures for success, then you can never truly fail. You evaluate how you have done according to you … and you alone.
Results are measured by you, not the outside world.
And when you are tempted to judge yourself by external standards alone, you still can never fail. You choose how you see your results. You either win or you learn.
Impossible