Lessons from a horse: photo practice...keeping it legal (hopefully)!

Tee hee!!  Thanks to Steve Jurvetson for a great photo and a great laugh this morning!  Many of you know already that I have a slight horse addiction.  Ok, a major horse addiction.  Training horses and training people around horses has given me amazing insights into teaching and has made me a much better teacher!!  Below is a top 10 list of things I learned about teaching from horse-ing around!


10) Getting up early and being the first person at the barn (or at school) helps me ease into the day.
9) I enjoy the ground work more than I enjoy the result. 
8) Spending time on the ground work is not only enjoyable, but is the only way to get the result you want.
7) Racing to the finish line usually ends up in stitches (literally and figuratively).
6) Teamwork can never be underestimated and any two individuals can become a team with the right guidance.
5) Sometimes you have to get dirty to get clean.
4) Daily practice is the only way to earn success.
3) A good rider stays out of their horses' way and lets them shine.  A good teacher does the same with their students.
2) Sometimes you win the biggest when you aren't even in the show!
1) Discipline matters.  I love riding, my riding students have been waiting their whole lives to spend time with their horses.  However, sometimes no one wants to show up and do the work that it takes to ride.  But you do it anyway and it is awesome. Always.

What are some ways that a hobby has helped you be more successful??

Success

Action is the foundational key to all success.
Pablo Picasso

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.
George Edward Woodberry

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
Bill Cosby

I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.
Michael Jordan

So what is success?? I believe the answer is that it is different things to different people. Learning a new skill in class, turning everything in this week, having a life outside of your academic life, getting a good nights sleep. Each of these could be a big reason for celebration depending on who you are and what life is throwing at you today.

How to become successful, that is the question! There are so many paths. I believe that taking academic risks, trying something when you really don't know if you can do it or not, accepting failure as part of success and as a part of learning, and, my personal favorite, resiliency.

I really believe that being resilient it one of the absolutely most important things that you can be. Every single person on this planet has made mistakes, failed a test, disappointed someone they love, or disappointed themselves somewhere along the line. It happens. That isn't the important part. What IS important is what you do when you fail, when things don't go according to plan, or when life seems like it is just too much.

You get up, you set attainable goals, and you try it again. You approach the problem in a different way, you ask for help, you let people around you support you, and you don't get hung up about "the last time you tried."

Resilience:
•an occurrence of rebounding or springing back

Next time you fail, don't stop yourself and get bogged down in fear and disappointment. Be resilient and think about how you are going to spring back into the action!