Recently I have made some major changes in my life. I have decided that in May I will be retiring from my secure 18 year career as a college professor in a large equine science program. Like many of us today, I can’t afford to retire and not have an income stream. Nor would I want to retire without some new and exciting thing to do. My choice to leave was based around many changes that have occurred in my life during the past 18 years. Letting myself move through these changes has brought me to this new wonderful, but scary place, where I feel I need to make this new major leap. That is how I have come to my new career as an equine performance/life coach.
I am so excited about this new opportunity but I am scared too. I wonder if I will make a go of this financially and what the future will bring. I have been busy over the winter break from school developing marketing tools, my business plan and adding content to my Facebook page and website. To do that I have had to change my home routine.I have had to work on new healthy habits by scheduling time in my office daily in order to focus on my business needs. At first this change was hard as I am not used to working regularly from home. But I figured this break would be a good time to develop this new home schedule so that it is in place and I don’t feel lost when I retire in May. So, I made myself sit in my office and do work for at least a few hours each day. It was a bit of a struggle at first, but now, with this new habit established, I quite enjoy my office time. I get so much more accomplished than when I try to do work sitting in front of the television.
All of this work has made me even more excited about this new career. It has also made me more scared as I expect things now to move quicker than they are. I start my worries with wondering will I ever make enough money to survive. To add to that, the stock market has taken a dive and my retirement nest egg has lost some money. It is funny actually as I used to read in the past when the market has gone down how retirees will feel affected without thinking that this could be me one day. That day has come. So what I do about all of this fear? I remind myself that it is quite normal to feel this way and useful as well. Without the fear I would not lay out carefully strategies towards a secure retirement and successful business. It is only when we stay stuck in our fears that we have problems. I have used my fears to push me to carefully analyze my budget, work hard on my business and look deeply at all of the many skills I have accumulated in my life and how I can use them. When I feel like things are not happening fast enough I remember that it takes time to work on something and do it well. New businesses usually take a few years to be successful. I have to remember that when things get a little tough I need to fall back on that great quality of GRIT that I am blessed with. I need to dig in and just keep moving forward and remember how much I have already accomplished in my business and my life.
Some of you may be wondering how this has anything to do with being a mindful equestrian.?Reread?what I wrote above and change retiring to a new career to retiring from your old stuck riding habits to new open minded ones. If you feel like you are not moving forward with your riding it is time to change some things. It is time for a real, honest look at what you are doing and thinking about your riding to find where you need to create change. Then you need to recognize your fears and let them move you to that change and to riding success. And remember this takes hard work.
A performance coach can support you and be your partner on this path to change. A coach listens intently and then will ask you powerful questions to help move you where you want to go. A coach helps you create a plan to move forward and then helps to holds you accountable to that plan. What is very unique about my performance coaching is that I don’t only work to help you on your path to riding success. I also help you recognize how all you gain in your journey with me can help you with success in all parts of your life, on and off the horse. I have had many up and downs in life and I have learned many lessons that I can share with you to help you live your best life in whatever you do. Are you ready for a change?