Ep 239: Embracing the Journey of Continual Growth
If there's one thing I've learned over the past 40+ years in the horse training business, it's the power of a growth mindset. One of the reasons I believe I have been able to survive as long as I have in this business is, somewhere along the way, I embraced the fact that horsemanship is really just a series of continual learning opportunities. Join me as I share some insights on how to embrace the journey of continual growth in your training career.
As I was sitting outside on the patio with my cup of coffee this Memorial Day morning, I was gathering my thoughts and reflecting on how grateful and blessed I am to have the opportunities that I have today. On Memorial Day, I can’t help but think about all of those who came before me and made sacrifices so that I could have the freedom to pursue the lifestyle that I have today.
When I have my coffee in the mornings, I always try to start filling my thoughts with gratitude. It’s a proven fact that our minds can only occupy one thought at a time, so I try to make sure the first thoughts that come into my mind in the morning are positive. And this morning, my thoughts went straight to the gratitude I feel towards my clinics.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of airports and hotel rooms. However, once I get in an arena with a group of growth-minded people, the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences of traveling all the time.
As I was thinking about the clinic experience, I asked myself, “why is it that these experiences hold so much value?” And, you know, I think it’s because I’m a constant student of the game. I’m always trying to learn more about preparation, personal development, marketing, brand building, building my career, and advancing my horsemanship. And, each and every person at the clinics is focused on the same thing.
In my journey, the commitment to continual growth has been something that I believe has allowed me to survive in this business for 40+ years. Because, trust me, I haven’t made it through all those years without making a ton of mistakes. There’s so much value in our mistakes. Every experience, good or bad, adds value to the journey.
Looking back on my career, there are definitely some weaknesses that stand out, especially early in my career. I wasn’t focused on developing myself personally. I was stressed financially. I was basically in survival mode at all times. I was just trying to catch up and get even. I was never giving myself the space to grow beyond my current circumstances. When your mind is programmed to be in survival mode, there’s not a lot of growth that happens there.
The thing is though, I think everyone goes through that state of survival mode at some point or another. The key is learning how to break out of survival mode and get to a state where you are in a growth mode. Which brings me to the main point of this episode: embracing the journey of continual growth.
A lot of people will say that consistency is the key to success – and, they are right. But for me, I looked at consistency the wrong way for many years. I spent years trying to keep myself in a motivated mindset, showing up and executing my plan each and every day. Well, the problem with that was that when life happened and I got off track with my normal routine, I felt like I was failing. If I didn’t feel motivated every day or I didn’t get things crossed off my list, I felt like I was failing. That’s when my perspective on consistency began to shift…
To me, consistency doesn’t mean never having an off day. Consistency means consistently learning to get started again. Consistency means being disciplined enough to do one small action and keep moving forward.
When life happens (notice that I said when, not if, life happens), you can’t let one bad day derail your plan. Everyone is going to have an off day every now and then. Everyone is going to have something unexpected pop up that has to take priority. When this happens, the secret to success is simply starting again.
Pick one thing that you can do to create some momentum in your day. Then, another. Then, another. No matter how big or small the task is, just pick something and get moving. Never underestimate the value of small changes. These small changes can create powerful compounding effects.
