Reflecting back on 2017

This will be my last blog of 2017, so I thought it would be a good time to talk about reflecting.

As we come to the end of the year, we often wonder what the New Year will bring, but what about the year that is about to come to an end. What about the things we learnt, achieved, the things that didn’t go that well etc.

It can be very useful to reflect on how things have gone. It helps us to see the positive and negative side to what ever we are reflecting on. But more importantly it shows us how much, or how little, we have improved since last time. It helps us to be better students.

It may be that reflecting is uncomfortable, because we don’t want to be faced with the things that didn’t go well. That can be because we don’t want to know that things are not going well, it may put pressure on one, you might feel like a failure.

I think exams are a good example, because we have all been there. How often did you have a good result and you felt great? How did you feel when the results were not satisfactory? How did you deal with it? Did you just ignore the result? Did you want to improve yourself?

There are many things that can lead to one feeling disappointed, upset, frustrated etc. but how are you going to deal with it? How are you going to improve?

I always try to see those situations as a chance to improve myself. If everything went well, how could I get better? Eventually I would have to find something new to work on, and it might not go well.

So instead of seeing it as failure, use the opportunity to improve yourself, to become a better students.

It can be useful to have a little diary or a board where you can list what you and your horse have been up to. Like that you can keep track and you will be able to reflect on where you were e.g. 2 weeks ago.

It allows you to follow your progress.

One important thing about keep track of your daily achievements, is that when things are not going well or you are not feeling successful, you can have a look what you have achieved so far. It may help you to see that all that time you have invested has been worth it.

Reflecting can also bring up past goals that have not been achieved yet. Lucky enough the New Year is just about to start and that goal can be on top of the New Year’s list.

To ensure that your goal will be accomplished next year, think about how you can set yourself up for success then how you can set your horse up for success, this will help to make the goal more achievable.

Take some time to reflect on 2017. But don’t stay there until you feel too frustrated about all that hasn’t gone well or been achieved. It is supposed to help you to also establish a new plan for 2018.

My first blog of 2018 will be, obviously, about you establishing a plan and setting goals for 2018.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New!

May your and your horse’s wishes come true

Angélique

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