Are Time, Energy & Money Parasites Stealing Your Barrel Racing Dreams?
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“If you want your life to have impact, focus it! Stop dabbling. Stop trying to do it all. Do less. Prune away even good activities and do only that which matters most. Never confuse activity with productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what’s the point?” – Rick Warren
As we embark on a new year, are you full of renewed energy and enthusiasm for what lies ahead?
OR have some obstacles already presented themselves?
If you followed last month’s suggestions for determining what you want to BE, DO and HAVE to make your new year desires reality, then you might have created a plan of action steps and specific areas of learning to focus on.
Ditching “goals” and embracing desires does loosen things up a bit when it comes to all this planning. It creates a little more flexibility and releases the attachment to the end results. It means we stay true to our personal path, even IF changes course throughout the year.
Creating desires (instead of goals) also comes with the realization that through releasing such tight control on the future – we’re actually opening our lives up to success and experiences that are quite possibly even beyond our wildest dreams!
However, just because we’re not quite as controlling and rigid, doesn’t mean that we’re not specific, or that we don’t write things down and create structure to set ourselves up for success.
After all, the key to happiness and fulfillment is dependent upon the choices we make and how we spend our time.
Learn to Recognize Money, Engergy & Time Parasites
So, what if a barrel racing desire is placed in your heart, and you develop a plan to make it reality…
AND THEN, as it so often does…
LIFE HAPPENS!
Ugh.
You know the drill – there are a whole host of family, work, financial, and equine related dramas that distance you from your desires/goals.
Little by little, these time, energy and resource parasites suck you dry. If you DO get any horse time in, you’re in a rush, left feeling that you really haven’t fully applied yourself.
It’s discouraging, even a little depressing and generally takes the wind out of your sails. All of your responsibilities, obligations, and distractions have you spinning in circles. You’re left feeling like you’re only putting half-hearted effort into everything you do.
Here’s the deal – you know that “power greater than yourself,” that I suggested surrendering the results of your efforts to last month? Well THAT power is the source of your desires, and with that did not come the intention for you to spin in circles or put forth half-hearted effort – in anything.
It just so happens that in many ways, society today has conditioned us to believe that this spinning state is “normal.”
The truth is, we must fully engage ourselves as we follow the desires of our heart if we are to honor their source, ourselves and the contributions to the world we are specifically called to make. This means we may have to set priorities, get ruthless, establish boundaries, make major changes, and generally become more like a laser, and less like a leaf.
Radical results call for radical action. So hang on, it’s about to get radical…
Time, Energy & Money Parasites – A Radically Effective Deworming Protocol
1. Ah time, it so often seems like a slippery fish. Reaching high levels of barrel racing competition requires A LOT of it.
When we feel as though “we don’t have time,” what we really lack is priorities. Analyze your daily schedule – how much of your time slips away to email, Facebook, news, TV, and other things that generally don’t get you closer to your goals?
Getting radical in this area might mean disconnecting cable TV or removing the Facebook app from your phone. It might mean that the kids participate in one less sport this year, that you divide your year into “seasons” of specific focus, that you sell a horse or two, or that you say “no” more often, in order to narrow down your responsibilities and create a “quality over quantity” theme for your life.
Get realistic about how much time you need to commit to your objectives and ruthlessly weed out those activities that aren’t necessary or in line with achieving them.
Don’t Let Parasites Slow You Down!
2. As you become more disciplined and respectful of you own time, other people will be more likely to respect it too.
Set boundaries with those people who suck away your valuable time and energy like a leech. If you find that certain people really drain you, it might be a sign to release those relationships.
Surround yourself with people who lift you up, value their own time, and are supportive of your success, do the same for them in return.
3. If you don’t make your health a priority, it becomes a vicious energy parasite. When cooking meals, prepare extra meat and freeze it to have on hand when time is short. ALWAYS have quick, healthy snacks available to avoid the temptation for less healthy options that rob us of energy.
Make it a priority to plan healthy menus and print out a master grocery list to mark down necessities, eliminating repeated trips for forgotten items. If you live a long distance from town (like we do), do bulk shopping or subscribe to a grocery delivery service like BlueApron or HelloFresh. It’s more expensive than gathering everything yourself – but remember, your TIME is precious and has value!
Design a fitness plan specially customized for YOU. We’re much more likely to follow through with a fitness regime when it includes forms of exercise we enjoy. Working out first thing in the morning was also a game-changer for my consistency!
4. How many hours per week do you have scheduled for riding? How many hours per week are scheduled for education – reading, watching DVD’s and learning in areas that will contribute to your accelerated success in the arena?
If it’s not written down, it’s not reality. Consider these times as “dates with your desires” – protect and guard that precious time. Set yourself up to WIN then don’t allow distractions to pull you away.
5. What could you do with your income if your truck, trailer and credit card was paid off? Anything you wanted!
Will those $100 jeans, the bling tack set, those chunky sandals or a daily Starbucks get you closer to the desires in your heart!? I think not! Trade what you want most for what you want right now.
Decide what is necessary, what is not, what spending gets you closer to your desires, what puts you further away. Become very detailed and deliberate when it comes to your money, otherwise it will have a way of disappearing, leaving you wondering where it all went!
Utilize the suggestions above to take a close, honest look at the parasites that rob you of time, energy and resources and stand in the way of your happiness and achieving your greatest barrel racing desires.
Take a stand, be willing to make some radical changes that open yourself up to the life you really want, and were destined for. Honoring your desires and making them a priority is not selfish, in doing so you’re actually setting a positive example for your children and for everyone around you, even if that means saying “no” or setting boundaries with them.
In the process you’ll be bringing to life the dreams and desires that were intended just for you, and inspiring others to do the same.
“Our lives and our time here are precious. Let us spend them accordingly. With people we love, doing what brings us the most joy and making the world a better place for having lived in it.” – Chris Assaad
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Amazing!
Humm…lots of things. I don’t know how I can cut down to have much more time than I already do. I think when I do that I need to stop feeling bad about it though because it sucks energy. I don’t watch tv, I don’t mess on my phone much, and (ummm) I do my internet stuff while I’m at work-sitting her. I do have a person in my life that is an energy sucker. Negative all the time, never has a good thing to say about me or my progress. I have stopped talking to her-it was easier to leave that one alone than to try and deal with it. I’ve had help with the barn work so I have more time to ride-this comes from people who support me and cheer me on. I buy basics-lol-I still have pants I wear from when I was in the 9th grade. No huge purchases on the horses either. Even though today I am spending a ton getting 2 of my horses vet checked from head to tail. I tried writting down my riding schedule and someone keeps taking it. I would ride, excercise and “horse” all day if I could.
I just wanted to say thank you, for all the tips and inspiring advice. I am not young,and I have been donating to the barrel racing world since I was 9 yrs. old.Then 13 yrs. ago my mare blew into my life and rocked my world! I trained her to me for me, and she is my best friend, my rock, and my pay checks. She got herself into trouble and it took a year and half to bring her back. But before I found Barrel racing tips & you I was struggling with myself, I had lost desire,want and trust in me and her, The zest was gone and I was lost! then I started reading everything you were writing. I started to feel like I could still do this. I Started riding more because I wanted to not because I had to, I stated spending more time with her just doing what ever, and the trust has come back and we are having fun again. Trust is a big one Because over the past 13 yrs. she has saved my life 3 times [no joke] Thank you for giving me the tools to bring the happiness back into my life!
PS It’s a great book, I love it.
THANK YOU for your kind words of appreciation! It’s my pleasure to help educate, inspire and empower barrel racers and I’m sooo glad to hear that BarrelRacingTips.com and my book is making a postitive impact in your life! If you had the trust, desire, AND high level performance at one time, I am certain you can get it all back. Sometimes, it just takes a shift in perspective to get started. What a blessing your mare is, she sounds like your “equine soul mate!” Kathy, I think YOU are an inspiration! Keep up the great work, and keep having FUN! 🙂
As always thank you so much for all the time you spend getting information and inspiration out. I do feel best when riding and working with my horses. I am getting ready to take a class that will hopefully allow me to keep moving forward with my barrel racing progress and it’s a little scary because I know it is fairly intense so I worry (of course) that I will spend all my time developing this part of my business and not enough time continuing to improve in my riding so I can do better in the races. I know all of this is a process and I just hope I can remember to enjoy the journey and let go of the results. I will keep reading your tips since they seem to address just what is going on for me when they come. Thank you again for being real and taking the time to put this info out there! You are awesome.
Oh, thanks Anna! You know, I am also finding out how challenging it is to balance out making a life of helping others achieve success, while continuing to grow on my path of development. There are times of short term sacrifice (like when I wrote my book, I didn’t ride my own horses), as you might also experience while you’re taking a class to advance your business. So I think it’s just a matter of being willing to experience some short term loss in exchange for long term gain, and outside of that keeping a balance, like a structured schedule so you don’t get too off track in either area. You’re sooo welcome for the articles and resources, thank YOU for your kind words! Outside of your comfort zone is where true expansion occurs – congrats to you for stepping out!
This has really taught me so much 🙂
Maybe I may have to drop playing my online virtual horse games and get real. I feel so angry with myself that I spend so much time on the computer playing horse games.
Gotta Gallop,
Breanna & Toolarah
Oh Breanna, you’re not alone! So many of us waste time online, Facebook, etc. I think there are ways we can spend our time that are not beneficial to us, that are neutral, and those that ARE beneficial. I really try NOT to do anything that is not good for me, and really limit those neutral things (watching TV, etc.), and focus on the things that are positive in some way. It’s OK to allow time for neutral things you enjoy too, but you might set aside small blocks of time for those things into a schedule, then hold yourself to sticking to it! 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
Thanks Heather 🙂 Shortly after I commented on this article, I deleted my online horse games except one but I only play it like 3 times a week and that’s it. I have been spending so much more time with my horse Toolarah.
Gotta Gallop,
Breanna & Toolarah