Mental Tip: Addressing Negative Thoughts
What does addressing negative thoughts mean?
In this context, addressing negative thoughts means that you both notice and respond to the negative thoughts that pop up in your head. Instead of just going through the motions and letting your brain do all the “talking” for you, you are both aware and connected to the thoughts that you are thinking. When a negative, unwanted thought arises, you are all over it. You immediately recognize the thought and how it is both unhelpful for your ride and unwanted overall. After this thought is brought to awareness, you work to do something about it. No matter what you choose to do, you are ultimately ridding yourself of the negative thought, or series of negative thoughts. The goal is to think in a helpful manner. If the thought is not helping you, then it is likely hurting you, and something needs to be done about it to get you back on the right track. Instead of believing the negative ideas your brain tells you, you have the power to think in the most optimal way.
Why is addressing negative thoughts important for riding?
Noticing and directly addressing negative thoughts is important for riding so that you can not only be the best rider that you can be, but also be the best influence on your horse. A simple negative thought can do a lot of damage, especially repeated phrases over time, which affects both you and your horse. As we already know, horses are very sensitive and intuitive creatures. If they can feel and shrug off a small fly off their backs, then they can certainly feel and respond to your negative thoughts. Horses cannot directly read your mind, but they can feel your energy and emotions. Thoughts, whether negative or positive, typically elicit an emotional response. What you think directly affects how you feel, which directly affects how you ride. Since negative thoughts are unhelpful for your rides, they will negatively affect your rides. You also tend to believe what you tell yourself, so negative thoughts can very easily turn into negative beliefs about yourself, which can be very hard to undo. You want to be as helpful as possible for the sake of yourself and your horse, so being both proactive and reactive to negative thoughts can easily make or break a ride.
How do I address my negative thoughts?
You can address your negative thoughts by first and foremost noticing them as they arise. When a negative thought pops in your head, make sure to take note of it each time so that you have even the ability to address them. Once you are aware of the nature of your thoughts, you have options as far as how to respond to them. The key is to be intentional about your response so that you can get the best outcome. It will very much depend on what the negative thought is, but you have the option to simply shut it down, respond to it with a solution, or flip it around, just to name a few:
Shutting the negative thought down is an active decision made to disempower the negative thought so that it has no effect on you. For example, after the negative thought appears, you respond to it with, “Nope, I’m not going to be thinking about that right now.”. The negative thought is now gone, done, and out of your mind so that you can move forward from it accordingly.
Responding to the negative thought with a real solution gives you a feasible answer to the “problem”. For example, if you think, “I can’t find a good distance on that turn.”, your response and solution could be, “I am going to add leg in the corner and work to keep my pace the same so that the distance will work out.”. Now, there’s no reason to feed into the negative thought because you have a real answer and plan for it that you can instead focus on.
Flipping the negative thought around creates new and improved possibilities that foster a hopeful rather than hopeless mindset. For example, if you think, “What if I crash and burn?”, the opposite thought implemented next could be, “What if I succeed and nail it?”. Your attention now goes to and remains at the potential positive outcomes, since they most certainly exist.
The choice is yours! Although the brain can be very convincing of these negative thoughts and fixating your attention on them, you have the power to do something about them and help yourself (and your horse!) out in the end. All that you’re missing are the specific mental tools to do so, and that is where I come into play! If your mind is getting in the way of your rides, then you’ve come to the right place. Instead of letting your brain control your fate, learn to instead optimize your thinking and ultimately align your mind with your rides! If this topic spoke to you, please reach out for further guidance. It’s not you that’s holding yourself back, it’s your brain, and there is a solution for it!
