Episode 207: The very real work of changing your mind.


Imagine how much freedom you would feel if you could watch videos of your rides and see what is working first, instead of only seeing what wasn’t.

Or imagine committing to training your horse… and having the side effect of losing 20 pounds as a byproduct.

Some concepts, like doing ’thought work’ or ‘mindset work’ can seem very vague if talked about in general terms.
On today’s podcast, I share with you the power of this work, in a way that will also move it out of a ‘concept’ and into reality. Listen as two students share moments of their journey that provide insights into their remarkable results.

Episode 207_ The very real work of changing your mind..mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 207_ The very real work of changing your mind..mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Stacy Westfall:
And then once they took that small step, they had to believe that repeating something doable was actually a big step.

Announcer:
Podcasting from a little cabin on a hill. This is the Stacy Westfall Podcast. Stacy's goal is simple: to teach you to understand why horses do what they do, as well as the action steps for creating clear, confident communication with your horses.

Stacy Westfall:
Hi, I'm Stacy Westfall, and I help riders become resourceful. In this episode, I want to bring your attention to the very real work of changing your mind. Some concepts like doing thought work or mindset work can seem very vague if talked about in general terms. On today's podcast, I want to share with you the power of doing this work in a way that will also move it out of concept and into reality. So to bring this to life for you, I'm going to share two success stories that illustrate my point. Listen to this first one and how this student noticed a habit that she wanted to change, decided to change the habit, and then got resourceful about how to change her habitual way of thinking. Ann says: I wrote a note during a Zoom call when you were teaching us how to evaluate our own videos of our own rides. The note says, "Look for the good first." Here's how I tricked myself into noticing the good stuff when I became distracted by the not-so-good stuff as I watched a recent recorded ride. When watching the video, I repeatedly became distracted by all the things which needed improvement in both myself and my horse. And repeatedly I reminded myself to notice the good things that lasted 2 seconds or less before I became distracted by all the not-good things I could see. I felt frustrated. Then I had an idea–One, Pause the video on a good thing, the way that you often do on student video reviews and to take a screenshot. I studied the screenshots on and off throughout the day. When I returned to watch the video the next day, I noticed even more good things that I had previously missed. I believe the–I believe the "Good stuff" screenshots helped my mind focus and calm, enabling me to watch the video from a place of non-judgment. There is still plenty to improve upon, but seeing the good things clearly helped me feel excited about addressing the things I want to work on. Thank you, Stacey Ann.

Stacy Westfall:
Thank you, Ann, for sharing the success story and for demonstrating how to be resourceful. The beauty of this story is that it takes place in a short amount of time. It is a detailed look at the process that Ann went through in about a day. And it also shows these three stages clearly: awareness of the habit, decision to change the habit, and step-by-step actions that it took to change the mental habit. I find it really interesting that Ann was not specifically told to screenshot her moments and look at them. That was her being resourceful. She remembered seeing me freeze moments from videos when I want to highlight something as I'm teaching and she took that and decided to use that technique on herself. And so often riders think about changing physical habits. What if the fastest way to change a physical habit is to look at the mental habit that goes with it? That's what Ann's story illustrates for me. And speaking of changing physical habits, this next success story is just a perfect illustration of this dance between the mental and the physical. It comes from Andrea who says: Dear Stacey, this success story has been in the back of my mind, but at the forefront of my life. After listening to other success stories people have shared, this one seems to be fair game. Since starting the resourceful rider journey with everyone, I have lost 20 pounds. Three or four times a week now I do yoga or Pilates first thing in the morning. Nearly every day my husband and I hike or jog with our dog, sometimes two miles, sometimes ten miles. It just depends on the day. At 48, my body is as strong as I can ever remember. I spent 43 nights sleeping outside in the mountains this last summer while working as a horseback guide and cook on week-long packed trips into the northern cascades of Washington State. Probably connected, my husband, Chris, has lost 20 pounds as well. You know why don't you? When videoing yourself month after month, when watching your body and how your horse responds month after month, one can't help but notice that being more fit makes a difference to performance. One can't help notice how being stronger and more flexible makes it easier to mount, easier to balance, easier to ride that canter for 10 minutes, and easier to keep chasing the ten canter loops around your cloverleaf pattern. Then when you combine all the videos with the tools you have used to help us practice being more self-aware, it becomes possible to be more body aware. These tools have made curiosity and kindness second nature. And the looping we do with goal setting and process ripples out into life beyond horses. It is delightful to share that after years of trying with no success while thinking I was learning to successfully train my horse. I have successfully lost 20 pounds. As ever, your teaching and example are powerful, Stacy Westfall. Thank you for everything you're doing. It is changing and improving many lives. Even my husband's. Gratefully, Andrea.

Stacy Westfall:
Wow, Andrea, thank you so much for sharing. This story illustrates the power of compounding habits over time. Notice again that Andrea is referencing simple tools: evaluating, goal-setting, mindset work, which are all workbooks and topics that I teach about inside my program. This success story is more broad because it covers Andrea's journey over months, but I really want you to see how these two success stories go together. It is those small, committed actions in the short period of time that Ann talked about that combine over time to get the results like Andrea did. And I have one more idea. What if the other common ingredient in these two stories is belief? Both of these women had to believe that change was possible, just to be able to do the work of becoming aware. Once they became aware, they had to believe that a small step like recording their ride and evaluating it could create a desired change. And then once they took that small step, they had to believe that repeating something doable was actually a big step. So when I read these, I see at least a tiny seed of belief at work during all of this. Google says that belief is 1. An acceptance that a statement is true or something exists. 2. Trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something. So often when I'm coaching inside of my program, I tell people what you're doing on this video you just need to do this, 20 more rides. You just need to keep repeating this. Because sometimes I think the hardest thing for people to believe is that one small step, repeated and doable over time actually becomes very big. If you're listening to this podcast and you would like to have results like Ann's or Andrea's, I can show you how. Inside my program, The Resourceful Rider, I teach a proven process that addresses the rider's mind and body as well as the horse's mind and body. And I've even created workbooks for those who like that approach. You'll learn the tools and the techniques for training your own horse and a whole lot more. Thanks again for sharing your successes. Thanks to all of you for listening and I'll talk to you again in the next episode.

Announcer:
If you enjoy listening to Stacy's podcast, please visit stacywestfall.com for articles, videos, and tips to help you and your horse succeed.

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