Uncommon Parallels...
I was at a horsemanship clinic today, and the guy running the clinic made some observations about riding a horse that I found to be intriguingly profound, if taken in the context of how you live your life (as opposed to simply being about horses)...
--You end up going where you're looking. In other words, in the context of the clinic, if your attention is on the ground at your horse's feet, you're probably not going to be staying on that horse very long.
--You've got to focus on where you're going, and not where you are right now. Yeah, I know, it's very closely related to the one above...but I've always been a big believer that what you have done in life is secondary to what you're going to do with your life. When I worked on the Olympics, it was tempting to say, "Y'know...I've just worked on a show with a WORLDWIDE audience. There's no way I can top that...I should quit now." But I try to keep my eyes on what I'm about to do, with the intent to put just as much effort and energy into that as I did into the Olympics.
--Your horse is expecting you to lead it...after all, you've taken it out of its world and made it part of yours, with the saddle and bridle and all. And who wants to work for a boss that doesn't know where he's going or what he wants to do? Actually being in a position where I AM the boss, to some extent, this one struck home. I realized that I've got people working for me that are in unfamiliar territory--they've never done this job before, and at least one of them has never done anything LIKE this job before (the other has worked with us before, but hasn't yet realized that each new show has a new set of challenges that need to be met). So, I need to let my people know that I DO know what's going on, I do have a plan for getting stuff accomplished, and I will do everything I can to make sure they succeed at what they're being asked to do.
The clinic itself was nothing new...a rehash of techniques I've already heard about, with a few different semantic twists to try and prove that the guy hosting the clinic was a better trainer than any of the other trainers out on the market. But it was intriguing to see how many little tidbits he discussed that could have been chapter headings from a self-help book. I'm going back tomorrow...looking forward to getting a little more.
I was at a horsemanship clinic today, and the guy running the clinic made some observations about riding a horse that I found to be intriguingly profound, if taken in the context of how you live your life (as opposed to simply being about horses)...
--You end up going where you're looking. In other words, in the context of the clinic, if your attention is on the ground at your horse's feet, you're probably not going to be staying on that horse very long.
--You've got to focus on where you're going, and not where you are right now. Yeah, I know, it's very closely related to the one above...but I've always been a big believer that what you have done in life is secondary to what you're going to do with your life. When I worked on the Olympics, it was tempting to say, "Y'know...I've just worked on a show with a WORLDWIDE audience. There's no way I can top that...I should quit now." But I try to keep my eyes on what I'm about to do, with the intent to put just as much effort and energy into that as I did into the Olympics.
--Your horse is expecting you to lead it...after all, you've taken it out of its world and made it part of yours, with the saddle and bridle and all. And who wants to work for a boss that doesn't know where he's going or what he wants to do? Actually being in a position where I AM the boss, to some extent, this one struck home. I realized that I've got people working for me that are in unfamiliar territory--they've never done this job before, and at least one of them has never done anything LIKE this job before (the other has worked with us before, but hasn't yet realized that each new show has a new set of challenges that need to be met). So, I need to let my people know that I DO know what's going on, I do have a plan for getting stuff accomplished, and I will do everything I can to make sure they succeed at what they're being asked to do.
The clinic itself was nothing new...a rehash of techniques I've already heard about, with a few different semantic twists to try and prove that the guy hosting the clinic was a better trainer than any of the other trainers out on the market. But it was intriguing to see how many little tidbits he discussed that could have been chapter headings from a self-help book. I'm going back tomorrow...looking forward to getting a little more.
posted by Curtis at 10:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home