The weekend of July 14, 2013 was magnificent for my friend Marion. She rode her very first top level dressage tests called Prix St. George and received excellent scores, thus she will be receiving the Silver Medal from the United Dressage Federation in 2013. This is an amazing success story for her and her wonderful horse Hochkarat which she trained by herself and a brilliant example how we can shape our results.
Clarity of her goals combined with the winning self image allowed her to receive this amazing success.
Marion is an experienced dressage rider and worked her way up gradually to where she is now. I remember, last year when she showed for the first time at the 4th level dressage test she reached a milestone and this year she took it one step further. “I was able to focus on my goal instead of letting myself being taking over by fear of failure.” Marion shared with me after her successful Prix St. George test. And a week later I received this email: “I am still scratching my head about the results from last weekend`s rides… I would have never done it if Ulrike hadn`t insisted on pushing myself, but in a quiet, self confident way. My horse felt that I wasn`t desperate as usual, just quietly approaching a new stepping stone… I really had no expectations but to “just do it’, thank God my horse didn`t know that, she felt a quiet, confident leader and followed me, what an awesome feeling! I have the key to future success now!”
Marion took charge of her destiny and followed her dream. She started focusing on her goal and cultivating her self image as successful top dressage rider. Self imagery is hardly a new concept for successful athletes but a very important one. If we cannot picture your success it’s unlikely we will reach our goals and the very top. “Make the development of your healthy self image your primary goal. See yourself as competent and deserving. Imagine yourself as confident and able to succeed in whatever project you undertake” says Jane Savoie. Jane is one of the most recognized names in dressage. She has a long list of accomplishments including member of the United States Equestrian Team, Olympic dressage coach, reserve rider Olympic dressage team, many Horse of the Year awards and National Freestyle Championships.
In her book That Winning Feeling! A New Approach to Riding Using Psychocybernetic, Jane presents a new approach to dressage riding based on psycho cybernetics, an amazing knowledge researched and published by Dr. Maxwell Maltz. In his book, Psycho-Cybernetics he applied the cybernetic principals to human beings and shares how the self image has complete control over an individual’s ability to achieve (or fail to achieve) any goal. Jane Savoie compares our “WIN mechanism” to the mental functions that produce the positive benefits of our goal- striving mechanism. The goals our mind seeks are mental pictures created by our imagination. It is irrelevant that the goal might seem out of reach or the means to the desired end result are not apparent. If you vividly can imagine your goal as already in existence, the WIN mechanism will supply the means!
As the astute reader you noticed that we are dealing here with two very powerful concepts here, the power of goals and the self image. Take yourself to the next level like Marion did this weekend and focus on the two areas:
Allow yourself to establish goals, real goals which are big goals and truly a picture of your dreams. Do not worry how to get there, use your imagination to paint the picture and imprint it in your mind.
Examine your self image and create the winning image. Replace limiting beliefs with goals, images of your success and positive affirmations. Bob Proctor shares in the Thinking Into Results program “Our success in any undertaking will never be greater than the image we have of ourselves.”
Enjoy letting your imagination show you your desired outcome. Your self image, once in sync with your imaginations and goals acts as the auto pilot to keep you on the course of the desired goal.
“Winners are dreamers who understand how to turn their dreams into reality and, in doing so, they create a better, more beautiful world for everyone” (Bob Proctor).
Resources:
Bob Proctor and Sandra Gallagher. Thinking Into Results. Proctor Gallagher Institute
Jane Savoie. That Winning Feeling! A New Approach to Riding Using Psychocybernetics. Trafalgar Square
Dr. Maxwell Maltz. The New Psycho-Cybernetics. Prentice Hall Press
Marion O'Connor. www. cocolallacreeksporthorses.com
About the author: Ulrike Berzau, MM, MHS, PT, FACHE, Thinking Into Results Consultant and passionate dressage rider, has significant experience as coach, mentor and healthcare executive throughout the USA, Middle East and Germany and an impressive track record of leading individuals and organizations to exceptional results.
For more information please contact Ulrike Berzau, achieveamazingresults@gmail.com; www.AmazingResults4You.com