It is that time of the year again – resolutions everywhere. More exercise, more healthy food, more training, more clinics, improved ability, better results. Less junk food, less alcohol, less time wasted, less clutter, less frivolous spending.
When making resolutions I have noticed how often people, myself included, are inclined to use the phrase ‘I want’. It is no big surprise. We are living in the ‘I want’ age. You only have to turn on any reality TV show from The XFactor to the Apprentice to see evidence of this – ‘I want this so bad’ / ‘this is all I’ve ever wanted’/ ‘you don’t know how much I want this’. So many movies and TV shows have preached the myth that simply wanting something enough and believing you can do it is enough.
The problem is that wanting is inertia. It is desire without action. Combine wanting with procrastination or excuses and it becomes the thief of ambition. Wanting an outcome will not help you achieve anything unless you use that want to do something about it. Maybe I am wrong but I believe there are few great horsemen/women and few great riders out there who have not worked damn hard and who have not sacrificed something as they earned their stripes.
When you think about what you want in 2015 for you and for your horses think about what you want enough to sacrifice your money, your personal time, your social life, your time with friends and family or a little of all of the above for. What do you want enough to get you out of bed early in the cold and the wet while others lie peacefully sleeping as you set out at dawn? What will you burn the midnight oil for? What do you want so much that you are prepared to risk failure, to take feedback and brave criticism? What do you want so much that you will push yourself as hard as you can and then just that little bit more in the name of progress? What do you want so much that you won’t mind when it hurts and it is tiring and it is hard? What do you want so much that you will try and fail over and over and learn and then fail better until you succeed?
Whatever this answer is, make it your own and make it more than just another want. Own it, do it, achieve it. Don’t sit back wanting and waiting because before you realise it another year will have passed and those that are out there trying and doing will be lapping you.
Equestrian Reality 