I was loitering near the Awards Table at last year’s IEO Annual Awards Banquet when I overheard two IEO members talking. Okay, I was eavesdropping, but the topic of their conversation was too good not to share, even if I have to admit to being nosey. One of them said, “Wow – those trophies are amazing! I’ll have to ride even harder this year because I want one of those!” I was tickled that she appreciated how unusual and lovely the IEO trophies are, but I was even more interested that she saw the trophies as motivators.
Motivating people to set goals and work hard toward achieving them can be a challenging task. Today we all wear many hats, and often, it seems that there are too few hours in a day to look after our jobs, our families and finally, ourselves. It takes a conscious effort to set aside the time needed to ride and train our horses and they often end up close to the bottom of the daily “To Do” list, where they sometimes slip right off the page. It’s easy to justify our choices by thinking, “I’ll ride twice as long tomorrow,” but that seldom proves successful. The instructor that once told me that what didn’t get fixed in 30 minutes would have to wait until the next day wasn’t kidding! So how do we stay motivated to devote the time we plan to ride and make it a priority every day?
I’d like to suggest that we frequently remind ourselves of the end goal, the main reason we ride and train. That goal is going to be different for everyone, but we all need to have one and we should write it down and post it for others to see. It’s not so easy to squirm out of a goal you’ve committed to and shared with someone else, so “owning” your goal by voicing it to your best friend can be very helpful. Resolutions to “ride even harder this year” are wonderful if they help to keep you motivated to keep riding, keep trying, keep getting back up in the saddle and keeping the horse between you and the ground.
So, what’s it gonna’ take to motivate you this year? Think about it – one of those fabulous trophies could be yours!
Susan Moody, IEO President
Motivating people to set goals and work hard toward achieving them can be a challenging task. Today we all wear many hats, and often, it seems that there are too few hours in a day to look after our jobs, our families and finally, ourselves. It takes a conscious effort to set aside the time needed to ride and train our horses and they often end up close to the bottom of the daily “To Do” list, where they sometimes slip right off the page. It’s easy to justify our choices by thinking, “I’ll ride twice as long tomorrow,” but that seldom proves successful. The instructor that once told me that what didn’t get fixed in 30 minutes would have to wait until the next day wasn’t kidding! So how do we stay motivated to devote the time we plan to ride and make it a priority every day?
I’d like to suggest that we frequently remind ourselves of the end goal, the main reason we ride and train. That goal is going to be different for everyone, but we all need to have one and we should write it down and post it for others to see. It’s not so easy to squirm out of a goal you’ve committed to and shared with someone else, so “owning” your goal by voicing it to your best friend can be very helpful. Resolutions to “ride even harder this year” are wonderful if they help to keep you motivated to keep riding, keep trying, keep getting back up in the saddle and keeping the horse between you and the ground.
So, what’s it gonna’ take to motivate you this year? Think about it – one of those fabulous trophies could be yours!
Susan Moody, IEO President
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