The Fourth Quarter Assessment

Rad Watkins — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 14:37:42 +0000

This last week, I went to a centered riding clinic to teach me to ride horses better. I have only been to one other clinic and it was over 10 years ago. I have no horsey friends around me. I largely live in a horse vacuum where it is just me and the horses. Almost everything I know I have learned from books, magazines and videos, but I have a real desire to know more and it is time I find someone to critique me.

I don’t know why I have a draw to horses and horse training. In many ways, I wish I did not. It doesn’t fit in with my family life, and just building the infrastructure for the horses is a constant challenge. When it comes to horse training, I have a desire to learn as much as I can and try to get better. Few things in life are this way for me. I am not particularly patient and I don’t set out for the long haul on most projects, but with horses I have and it is beginning to really open my eyes to somethings.

True Confession

First off, I kind of suck as a horseback rider. That’s a true confession. I started riding and thought I was pretty great, considering I had never been around horses in my life and I immediately went into starting (or breaking) horses. An unbroken (and yes that is a horse word) horse goes through a phase of what they call green. Just like the new rider trying to learn the basic concepts, green means you have some understanding, but there is no muscle memory, no true perception, certainly no mastering of the process. A saying in the horse world goes…green and green is said to be a recipe for black and blue…and I don’t recommend it.

Surviving green and green made me feel like I must be pretty special, but now I look around and realize I have been messing around with horses for over a decade, and that is a long time. I am very good at starting a young horse, but I don’t really know how to do anything advanced. I look at young people who have been working at horseback riding for several years and they can do all kinds of cool things. This made me realize, it is time to take it to the next level. I really want to be a good horseman who moves in harmony with the horse. I know that moving toward this will give me great pride. I also believe that even though I have a long way to go and the learning is endless, that some small adjustments to the way I am doing things will have big results.

Life Lessons Learned

So here is the life lesson. What is it that lifts us from one level to another? What does it take? Well, first, there is desire or need. Second there is the Law of Karma that states you have to accept where you are. Third, you need a goal or at least vision of where you want to go. Next you need a plan or program. Finally you need tools, teachers, and critics to evaluate you.

I realize that I am at step two, and to be honest, it kind of hurts. It is making me look at other areas of my life and questioning, am I where I want to be? Am I where I should be? Boy, that is a potentially dark road, so how you approach it is important.

The object is not to compare yourself to others for that sake of living up to them, but to assess if you have the components of the life you want to lead. In life coaching, we break it down into some categories such as friends and family, finances, environment, health, romance, personal growth, fun and recreation, and career. All that being said, it is okay to use others as motivators of what you can accomplish. To go full circle in this article, that is why I want to get out there, to discover other horse people and see what they are doing and how I can do it to.

So, before you come out with the big New You resolutions in a few months, is there an area of your life that you want to improve? Are you ready to take a stab at it? Go for it! See what you can do to make a small tweak that can really lift you up and improve all areas of your life. We are in the fourth quarter and there is still a lot of time left in this year. Let me know what it is you are taking on and I look forward to watching your mastery build momentum.

Keep leading,
Rad

Next week: getting stuff out of the way…

Life on Your Terms

Rad Watkins — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:26:36 +0000

Years ago someone asked me why with a master’s degree in ecology, I was interested in personal development? It didn’t take me long to reply “Because I need it.” There is a saying that we teach what we need most. That may or may not be true. I think we often teach what we are passionate about and we are passionate about what we pursue. For me I want to constantly be a better person. I want to live a full life of absorbing all the magic of the world and helping those around me have the best time we can together as they work to achieve their goals. That takes motivation, skills, and a certain amount of vision.

A Vision of Leadership

After living this way, I realized that is what leadership is all about. It is about having a vision, building skills, motivating, walking the talk, following up, and keeping positive. It is really the same thing whether you are leading yourself or leading others, because leading is not about having followers, but engaged participants.

I have to say, being a public speaker and coach who helps others with these things, the biggest thing I have to come to terms with is that my vision is different than the societal norm, and that is okay. If you are engaging in the Animal Leadership message, then maybe it is because it is a little different and that appeals to you too. For me, I don’t have the goal of making gazillions of dollars, living in a fat spread in L.A., and traveling the world constantly. I don’t mind studying the principles taught by those who have achieved these things, but I want to apply them to my own life, my own vision. For me that means having lots of time to get out in nature and almost do nothing, time to play with horses, time to be around my family and most importantly my little kiddos.

Don’t Let Others Dictate Your Vision

The reason I share all this with you is because all too often we let others dictate our vision of what the world should be. Often this is unconscious. We simply start to emulate those around us. This can be a very important part of self-improvement (or a very negative one), but that is not what we are talking about here. I am trying to drive home the point that you have to decide how you want to live your life, run your business and then, we must walk that talk.
Does this mean that you have to be some unorthodox outsider? No. When Larry Page and Sergey Brin started Google there was not a huge model out there for how they should run their company, but the decision to make Yoshka, the “company dog” part of their culture was only the beginning of how this company decided its own corporate culture. Now Google is a model for how progressive companies treat employees and do business.

So what I want for you, is that you feel comfortable deciding what sort of life you want to create. What sort of business you want to run. Then go out and do it the best you can. Go out and really embrace it. Be the leader that gets it done. Get motivated to do what it takes, build the skills you need, embrace others who are up for the same ride, walk the talk, and move positively in the direction you want to go.

I hope the Animal Leadership message helps you whether it is making a gazillions dollars, building better corporate team players, losing five pounds, or getting involved by serving your community more. I think the world will be a better place if we really break out of the mold and bring our uniqueness to its fullest. That is why I teach personal development. I need it for myself and need it for others too. So, as the great naturalist philosopher Henry David Thorough (who, by the way, spent a lot of time just wandering around in the woods) “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.”

Engage us by letting us know what you think. What are your dreams and what tools do you need to live that life?