Are you Motivated?

Have you ever had days that you were bright, and bushy tailed and ready to do whatever was on your “to do” list?

But then a few days, or weeks, later you felt like your feet were stuck in glue or that your efforts just weren’t enough?

Yea, me too!

I’ve done a lot of researching on this and how to help keep myself motivated. I’ve found a few tips that are helpful.

Here’s a breakdown:

There are 5 parts to getting motivated, being motivated, and staying motivate in order to reach your goals.

And of course, I am talking about how to reach your goals with your horse. But these can work with other aspects of your life too.

Part I – The High

• Before you start a new training schedule, or try a new technique, you may feel unmotivated, nervous, and somewhat skeptical.
• But once you get started, your motivation will typically go through the roof!
• You say things like: “this time will be different”, or “this time will be great”, or “I can do it”.

Part II – The Honeymoon

• This is when your motivation continues for a short time in an all time high.
• This can last for hours, day, or weeks.
• It feels like everything is great and it will stay this way.

Part III – The Drop

• This is when you hit your first bump in the road.
• This is when reality sets in and you realize it’s going to take some hard work.
• This is when you stop and start questioning things

Part IV – The Low

• This is when the drop lasts for a bit and it’s not just a bump in the road
• You start doubting yourself, your abilities, and maybe even the program.
• Many people will just give up at this point and say to themselves, “I’m a failure”, or “I’ll never be able to reach my goal”.

Part V – The Learning Curve

• This is when, if you keep going and push yourself, you really start to learn.
• This is when you are now making lemonade from the lemons.
• This is when you start to ride the waves, ups and downs, and your learning takes shape.

This is when the magic happens, and you start reaping the rewards of your actions.

Your motivation will actually start to continue naturally and automatically.

You won’t even think about how to stay motivated once you’ve made it through all 5 parts of the motivation process.

Just remember not to get too discouraged and give up before you really make an effort.

You want to reach your goals with your horse, right?

Try, try, and try again has a lot of merit.

It does get easier and it does get better as you progress through the motivation process.

Don’t give up!

Don’t give up on you or your horse.

And here’s a simple tip to help you stay motivated…

Creative Visualization

That’s just a fancy way of saying – use your imagination.

This will help you overcome limitations, increase your self-efficacy, and help you reach your goals.

It’s simple, but effective.

To visualize how to reach your goals with your horse:

1. Close your eyes.
2. Take a deep breath and picture yourself and your horse doing exactly what you want to achieve. Picture your ultimate goal happening.
3. Picture yourself interacting with your horse in a new way. The way you want it to feel and doing what you want to do.
4. Now, how does that feel? How happy are you? Take a moment to enjoy that feeling.
5. Then ask yourself WHY you want to reach your goals. Remember that and push on.

You can do it!

Despite your best efforts, things won’t always go as planned.

When things don’t go as planned, take a deep breath and just let it go.

Take a moment to visualize and feel what you want to achieve and remember why you want it.

If you let yourself get hung up on the bumps in the road, you won’t be able to reach your goals.

A self-fulfilling prophecy!

Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right”

So, be right and achieve your goals all in one.

Let me know what you’ve been able to accomplish when you were motivated. You can leave it in the comments section.