Let's Hustle

May 1st, 2015, Kid darted into the small catch pen alongside another mustang his eyes wild with fear. Zig zagging back and forth along the fence line he sought desperately to find a way of escape. I watched as he lurched his small brown body against the panels holding him in and then ducked his head back down and circled the small circumference of the pen once again. I swallowed hard. In reality the wild fear he was feeling was exactly the same fear I had dealt with leading up to this moment. Did I want to compete in an Extreme Mustang Makeover? Yes! Was I scared witless of taking a mustang from wild to broke, also yes! In fact, my fear had driven me to consider pulling out of the competition. After my application had already been accepted but prior to picking up Kid I was hit with an onslaught of doubts and cold feet. I questioned my ability to tame a wild mustang, I questioned if I had all the resources I needed to work with him for four months and then travel to Fort Worth to compete. A phone call to my sister Anna gave me the kick in the pants I was needing. Despite the countless doubts and fears I voiced to her she didn't back down in her perspective of what was the right choice to make. She told me this was my dream, that I would find a way to make it work, that I was capable, and that fear should never be a reason we quit something, especially before even starting. I ended the phone call, took a deep breath, shoved the butterflies in my stomach back down. In that moment I decided I wanted to see what happened if I didn't quit.

Now I was here. This was the beginning of what not quitting looked like. This was the beginning of the story. Although the sight of Kid's wild fear was intimidating excitement caught within me and lit a flame that shone brightly. I didn't know what the journey was going to entail, but I knew I had without a doubt made the right choice to not quit!

Recently I was sitting at home praying about life direction. Interestingly enough as I was praying my eyes happened to land on a laminated chart in my closet. I walked over and picked it up. It was a schedule I had compiled while training Kid for the Extreme Mustang Makeover. It laid out in order of importance and categorized in classes that I would compete in what I needed to accomplish with Kid in four short months. At the end of the chart I had included a couple of inspirational quotes. Seeing this chart again caused me to reflect on setting goals and what they do or don't accomplish in our lives. A little later in the week I accidentally opened the notebook application in my phone. It immediately opened to a list I hadn't seen in ages. The list in my phone detailed things to accomplish with Kid before leaving for Fort Worth. I slowly browsed through the list as an insight I'd never had before hit me. There were lots of good things I aspired to accomplish with Kid. I wrote them down, I put them in my phone, I made charts, I kept my goals in front of me. But what grabbed my attention and made me stop was this. I did NOT accomplish everything on that list. Yes, you read that correctly. I did not train Kid everything I set out to in those four months. There were things on my list he still can't do to this day or he can't do them at the level I would like for him to. But guess what?! Honestly that doesn't really bother me. The reason being, we accomplished the big goal, and we did it well. All the smaller goals I set were simply a set of tracks to keep me headed towards the destination. They kept me focused, they kept me training hard every day, they kept me moving forward at the speed I needed to, but they were not the goal themselves. The goal was to go to Fort Worth, to compete at the Extreme Mustang Makeover, and to do myself and Kid proud at that competition.

I used to hate New Year's resolutions. I wouldn't even set them because I hate quitting something or not completing it to the extent I intended to. But reflecting on training Kid for the Extreme Mustang Makeover has taught me something. You have to reverse engineer your goal setting. Any good businessman or businesswoman will tell you that you start by putting the big rocks in the jar first and progress to the small ones at the top. This means you set the BIG goal first because the smaller ones will work themselves out if you know what your end goal is. Setting the big goal first gives us freedom in the smaller goals. It gives us wiggle room to fail, fall short, mess up, and yet to rise again and keep driving after the big goal! The coolest thing about setting the big goal first and not quitting is that you accomplish bigger and unexpected goals in the process! I may not have achieved every single little thing on my list with Kid, but in reality I accomplished other things I hadn't planned within the journey. Not only that, but the journey, the process changed me. It grew me as a horsewoman, it grew my perseverance, my confidence, my grit, and when I got to the big goal it was a feeling unlike any other! The little goals kept me on track, but the big goal created the little goals.

I've begun to adopt and test this theory in my life. Instead of setting a whole bunch of goals come New Year's I ask myself what my overall goal is for that year, what's the most important thing to me to achieve? Say that I decide it is to purchase a horse trailer and start showing my horse. All the little goals now start to fall into place and hold purpose. Not because I love the little goals in and of themselves, but because they're taking me towards the big goal. For me I need financial stability to purchase a horse trailer, and I want to be physically fit and at the top of my game to show my horse. How this may shake out in my life is getting up early to run during the week, taking care of my body by eating properly, keeping good track of my budget and refraining from spending on things I don't need to, being consistent at work so my income is where I need it to be. For me, these things are a whole lot easier to work hard at when I know that ultimately I'm hustling towards the big goal! But just like with training Kid for Fort Worth I change in the process. Almost by default I find I have a consistent morning routine, I find my body is gaining muscle tone, I find I'm alert, clear minded, inspired, and able to live my life to the fullest.

Kid and I made it to Fort Worth. We accomplished the big goal and came home satisfied and proud! We left it all on that arena floor. We gave it our best. We didn't make it to the finals, but we placed well, and won the Rookie of The Year belt buckle.

I don't know if this method of goal setting is something that is right for you, but I hope it inspires you to reconsider goals. Don't just throw the baby out with the bath water like I used to do. Don't not start just because you haven't found the right way to start yet! Being the best version of you and having the impact that God intends for you to takes work and sacrifice! It doesn't just magically happen. It takes an intentional choice on each one of our parts. It takes sweat, sacrifice, and enduring hardship. But please, please, don't let that stop you from hustling! The world needs you to be inspired, fully alive, the best version of you! This is what inspires others to choose life, this is what inspires others to hustle too, this is what paves the pathway for others to follow behind and to do great things too! There's a world filled with opportunities awaiting us, let's hustle!

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.

Hebrews 10:36 NLT

And my righteous one will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away." But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

Hebrews 10:38-39 NLT