Ep 114: The Value of Reflection
I’ve said it many times over the years–horses have taught me far more than I will ever teach them. And, this still continues to hold true.
As we move into a new year, I have been reflecting on the challenges, successes, and seasons of growth I have experienced. While there have been a fair share of wins, the struggles and failures are always present in the horsemanship journey. But, that’s exactly what failure is–a journey.
I’m thankful for the times when I have to work through problems because those are the best teachable moments. Without failure, there is no growth. This is true with horsemanship, business and life.
If you have your own business, you will probably relate to the constant struggle of feeling like your pay depends on the value you are able to create each and every day. Especially if you are a service-based business, it is hard to disconnect your personal value from your business. In a sense, you are your business. And, that’s a lot of pressure.
I was recently interviewed by Pace Freed with X-Factor Team Roping, and he asked:
“How did you know that this was your purpose?”
At first, I stumbled around my answer a bit. To be honest, I don’t really know if there was an exact moment in time where I had this realization. In my opinion, if you’re doing something because you love it and not because of the money, you are probably finding your purpose.
When I hire help in my business, I try to find those people who are fulfilling their purpose as well. Whether that’s with business, marketing, or horse training, I want to surround myself with people who genuinely love and care about what they are doing.
When you’re not in alignment with your purpose, you will likely be faced with opposition. It’s just like trying to train a horse using cues they don’t understand. It creates a situation laced with frustration.
Human nature says that if we are doing 8 out of 10 things well, the 2 out of 10 things we are struggling with are the things that occupy 80-90% of our thoughts. What happens is we start to beat ourselves down for those 2 things instead of celebrating the 8 things we are doing well. Pretty soon, the thing we love becomes the thing we hate. If we’re not careful, we can do this to ourselves in horsemanship, our careers, and other aspects of our lives, too.
Instead of focusing on those things we are having a hard time with, we have to reframe our minds to focus on the things that make us uniquely talented.
There is only one of you. As much as we want to feel like we can duplicate ourselves to get more done, the fact of the matter is that you have unique talents and perspectives that make you different from everyone else. Embrace those things. Be very aware of those things. No one can be better at being you than you. Cherish the things that make you different. No one has it all figured out. So, don’t beat yourself up for the parts of your journey that are still developing. Celebrate the things that make you, you.
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