Episode 266: Red zone, yellow zone, green zone

12/20/23 • 17 min

Train Your Own Horse with Stacy Westfall

If you notice that you find yourself thinking or saying, ‘look, I messed up there’ or ‘my timing could have been better there’ and you have an underlying feeling of disappointment, this episode is for you.

In this week's episode, we discuss a simple tool that can help reduce the fear of mistakes and the trap of perfectionism. As riders develop the ability to feel more while riding, the heightened awareness will reveal both the things that ARE working, as well as the things that are not.

One tool for adjusting your perspective is to categorize by zones—red, yellow, and green. Once you understand what these zones represent, you’ll understand why ‘perfect’ timing isn’t always necessary.

This same concept is also a useful way to think when planning, goal-setting, and reviewing your progress.

This same concept is also a useful way to think when planning, goal-setting, and reviewing your progress.

Previous Episode

Episode 265: Raw reactions vs. rewarded responses

In this episode, Stacy Westfall delves into the intricacies of raw reactions versus rewarded responses, using her new yearling horse, Ember, as an example. She emphasizes the importance of understanding and influencing a horse's mental state alongside their physical actions. Stacy shares her approach to teaching Ember to stand quietly when tied, highlighting the challenge of discomfort that arises when horses make mistakes. She stresses the need for consistency in rewarding specific emotional states to transform raw reactions into desired responses.

Stacy draws parallels between horse training and human behavior, encouraging listeners to be intentional in their actions and aware of their thought patterns. The episode explores the concept of horses reflecting on their training sessions, thinking about the process after it concludes, and detecting patterns. Stacy likens this reflective process to intentional thinking, which humans can practice for personal development.

The narrative shifts to Presto, another horse with thought loops, illustrating the importance of guiding horses through reactive states. Stacy relates this to human experiences, cautioning against unintentionally causing one's fears. The episode concludes with a call for self-reflection, urging listeners to review their actions and thought patterns from the past year, emphasizing the value of looking back for personal growth.

Next Episode

Episode 267- Dream bigger, measure backward, and let things count.

An important part of setting future goals is reviewing and learning from the past.

This episode includes an 8-step process for reviewing and learning from your past year, as well as in interview. Diana and Riece join me, and we discuss the lessons that can be learned from reviewing, which can be carried forward into the next year.

This episode is so full, it has a free downloadable workbook to go with it! For your free printable copy of the 8-step process outlined, go to stacywestfall.com episode 267.

Topics discussed include:

the potential fear of being overwhelmed with regrets during a year-end review
the difference in reviewing on a micro level (day to day) versus a macro level (year-end review)
the reality of adjusting timelines
the importance of looking back with compassion, avoiding self-blame, and understanding that decisions were made with the available information

How your habit of reviewing (or not reviewing) throughout the year is often reflected in your yearly review. Now is the best time to begin to build the habits that will support your future dreams and goals. Download the free guide and get started today.