Five Foolproof Ways To Smash Your 2020 Goals

Goal setting is a hot topic at this time of year and is something that I personally place a good deal of importance on. 

I have many goals across every aspect of my life from personal goals, to horsey goals to business goals, but for the sake of this blog, I am going to concentrate on setting horsey goals, including planning for the season. I tend to focus on performance goals which focus heavily on finishing scores, however, goals come in all shapes and sizes and vary dramatically from person to person.

Before setting any goals at you need to establish WHY you are doing the amazing sport. Is riding and competing for your profession or is it a hobby? The reason I ask is that someone aiming for team GBP is going to set goals dramatically differently from someone who is doing this as their hobby. 

If you are heading out British Eventing as a hobby then take a deep breath and cut yourself some slack - the main goal is to ENJOY IT. We spend a lot of our hard-earned on a days eventing and although it's great to come home in the frillies, our number one objective should be to enjoy the experience. 

 
Now that we've got the real talk out the way, here is how I set my goals:

1. Reflect back - how did you get on last year? What did you do well and where are the areas you need to improve? We published a fantastic blog all about evaluating your performance based on a formula by Equiratings. Click here to find out how to calculate last years Power Score and Reliability Rate which is a great starting point for this seasons goals. 

2. Brainstorm - use the notes on your phone or a good old fashioned pen and paper to jot down a whole list of possible goals, big and small, then cut the list down to two-four goals that are most important to you. These can relate to training, competing, leisure riding, even stabling and travelling - this is the time to really figure out what is important to you.

3. Select goals that are achievable - from the above list choose two-five goals which mean the most to you. You want to choose goals which excite you and will make you work hard, however, they must be achievable. For example, if you are currently competing at BE90 saying you want to move up to Intermediate in one season is probably unrealistic, however, you could aim to move to BE100 for a few runs then finish the season completing a BENovice which is a challenge but is much more achievable. 
Make them specific - for example, if you want to improve your dressage score you could write" Dressage score to stay consistently below 30" which is measurable, as appose to "get better Dressage scores", which is very vague. 

4. Visualise them - if your goal is to qualify for Badminton Grassroots then imagine how you are going to feel when you pull up to the stables at Badminton. Imagine how it will feel to walk the course in front of the most iconic house on the eventing circuit then imagine what it will feel like to come out of that start box. Channel all of that feeling into your training and head out to the regional finals with the mentality that you CAN do this! 

5. Measure and reflect often - schedule time once a month to check in on your goals and measure their success thus far. Are you on track? If you are not on track then what do you need to do to help you get closer to achieving your goals? 

My Goals for this season? 

1. To gain a qualification for Badminton 100 Grassroots 2021
2. To keep my Dressage consistently under 30
3. To try something new - Coloured showing class, at Kelso Show. 

All three are achievable (with hard work and determination), specific and measurable, plus they make me feel AMAZING when I visualise smashing all three of them!

Check-in next week when we catch up with our brand ambassadors to see what their goals are for the 2020 season.  

Until then, happy goal setting

Sarah x

#BeUnstoppable 

Images by Dave Cameron Photography