Stop Setting Goals with Your Horsemanship
Goal setting does not work.
Let me explain why I believe this and how goal setting has not worked for me.
We all have things we want to achieve...in life and with our horsemanship.
"I want to ride in that horse show next weekend"..."I want to drop 10lbs"..."I want to write that
book"..."I want to beat my half-marathon time".
Sound familiar? It certainly did to me!
But goals can be inherently
problematic.
Instead of creating goals,
I'd suggest that you shift to creating
systems...a series of small, continuous habits taking you toward your desired direction.
Here's why...
1. Winners & losers have the same goals. 🏆
Goal setting suffers from survival bias. Everyone entering the horse show wants to win the blue. It wasn't having the goal of winning that made them win. It was a system of small training improvements that helped them achieve a unique outcome.
2. Achieving a goal is only a momentary change. ⏱
If your goal is to tidy a messy tack or feed room, it's easily achieved with a burst of energy. But with messy habits, soon, it will end up back where it was. You need to change your underlying system of habits if you want lasting change.
3. Goals can restrict your happiness. 😔
The implicit assumption behind any goal is: "Once I achieve this goal, I'll be happy." The problem here is that you continually end up deferring your happiness until the next milestone. But if you instead change goals to a system - a series of ongoing habits... you can be happy right now, knowing you're on the right track.
4. Goals can be at odds with long-term progress. 📅
Goals create a "yo-yo" mindset. What happens after you achieve your goal? Maybe you hit your target weight -- only to pile it all (and more) back on a few months later. By creating a system, you can create real long-term shifts.
So...
Rather than saying to yourself:
"My goal is to lose 10lbs by Christmas!"
You should consider instead asking yourself what kind of person you want to become.
For weight loss, you might consider that you want to be a healthier, more physically active individual.
And so you decide to implement a system where you eat good food and visit a gym for 30 minutes, 3x a week.
You'll achieve the 10lb weight loss, for sure (and then some). But you'll also keep that weight off, and enjoy a plethora of other health benefits too.
This is a system. It's the continual process of small, beneficial habits. 🤏♻
Your goal isn't to win a horsemanship championship (though you think that's what it is). It's to train a little better each time.
Your goal isn't to be the best 'trainer' for your horse. It's to create and build the most trusting relationship and partnership with your horse you can!
Your goal isn't to write a book. It's to become a writer.
Creating systems and looking at your overall trajectory is more important than setting individual, lone goals.
Again:
SYSTEMS over GOALS. ✔️
Trajectory over one-off results. ✔️
It's a profound thought that you might just want to think a little deeper about.
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