Renee Rae knows where the head goes, the body follows

In Texas, all hat and no cattle could be a little bit cheeky but I'm sure we can read between the lines. Let's say, Renee Rae Willis is a long way from Texas and she is all action; the result being, pure grace and beauty.

When I first heard the saying, where the head goes, the body follows; my thoughts immediately went to barrel racing. My nice Renee Rae Willis is a pro, and I watch in amazement whenever I get the change to watch her run.

And the saying rings true, where the head goes, the body follows. Not just her body, picture being attached to a fast moving train, or in Renee's case,1500 pounds of raw horsepower, big torque, and grace in motion.

What resonates with me the most is there is no doubt in her focus. The desired outcome is there. What else? There is no going back.

In Renee's case, like most successful people, there has been years of dedication, refining, wins and loses, sunshine and rain. It takes resilience, years of training, a never give up attitude is required, to ultimately reach mastery. Overnight success; in my opinion; is a myth. When you look back and recall someone's success, there is often lots of lessons learned, but more than that, we may notice loud and clear action. And maybe that differentiates them, from the many.

Because when the gun goes off, years of good choices boil down into 15 seconds. The maybe's, the I can't, and I don't know how's, have all been smoothed over, trained out, edited and refined. What is left? As they say, is the right stuff.

Like Renee, we must consider that anything we want that badly means there are no if, ands or buts, we must launch from the gate fully committed, focussed, in the moment and determined to succeed. Every ounce of directed focus is in this one second sparking into the split second that follows; leading towards the desired outcome.

And if it doesn't work out? Then we adjust, pivot and head to the next barrel, because where the head goes, the body follows. 

So, why today's story? Because I think we could all use a little more action. So, I ask you to think back, when is the last time you were all in? These are not the times when we are thinking about dinner, worried about the future, or the past. These could be the times or events when we found ourselves completely in the moment, making directed choices, and 100% into the task at hand.

Looking at Renee, with her hair flying straight back, leaving nothing in reserve, I witness pure directed and refined action. And I for one, can learn from that, be inspired by her mindset, commitment, and determination and ultimately her action; that overrides all beliefs.

According to psychology, our beliefs are the number one reason why we fail. But if action overrides beliefs then let's go there!

If the training and conditioning inside our mind are interfering with our success, in life, love, relationship and wealth. In other words, in our life. So, edit it out! Retrain and change the story into beliefs that empower. Reframe or create a mental flip, because as Steve Jobs says, our conditioning has created a false reality and this conditioning does not have to be your life. 

Choice could be said to be like that too. When we choose to do something, we have committed and we know that with all choices, there is a definite consequence. Where our head goes, the body follows. Where our thoughts go, choices follow.

So, what happens when our thoughts are worried, when our thoughts are conditioned, programmed for I can't, conditioned to be overly cautious, or believe that we are powerless? What choices could we make then? Where would we hesitate, what greatness would be left on the table?

Truthfully, our thoughts often result from some form of training. For Renee, she trained to be a great horse woman. She was conditioned from a young age to be in the saddle. Her mastery now, so natural to her, that many of the choices she makes could be considered instinctual. But make no mistake, it was training, and yes commitment, dedication, passion, vision. All the things that create greatness are things we are willing to put thousands of hours into. It takes persistence. 

And possibly, like everything we want to achieve, total commitment is part of the recipe. But when we lack action, it could be said we are all hat and no cattle. We may look stylish and are tell a good story, but are we walking the walk. Are we in?

So, how does any of this relate to you, today? It's really just an inside question. Having awareness is as simple as checking in. So, I ask you to identify what you have been thinking about right now? How many distractions are happening right now? How committed are you to your goal, right now? How much talk verses what action are you taking right now?

And if there isn't action, why? Is there a belief standing in your way? What is the inside message, and how can we learn more about ourselves and move forward.

We find the answers to these inner secrets within our language. The words we use to tell our everyday story, reveals what beliefs are keeping you from the life you want? Because if you consider, where the head leads, the body follows, then thoughts lead to words that lead to action or inaction. So, thoughts matter, becasue they lead to action.

All talk and no action leads, to unfulfilled dreams. So here is a playful exercise.

I would like you to picture a 11.5 by 8 inch piece of paper. And in your right hand there is a big blue felt pen. For simplicity, we draw a blue line straight through the center of the white paper. Looking onto the right half lbel it action, label the left, inaction.

Now, I would like you to write down 10 words to describe what you are wanting to achieve right now. When our thoughts and language reflect self doubt, anxiety, worry, fear or any negative feelings about your ability to achieve your goal, place then on the left side of the page.

However, when your thoughts reflect anticipation, excitement, skills and attributes you process for achieving your goals, place them on the right side of the page. Now, take a look at the balance. Specifically look at the left side of the page and edit them, simply use your unlimited imagination and positively reframe the content. Once reframed positively, move the reframed content to the right side of the page.

Repeat the process with each item on the left, moving them over to the right side. Then grade each item, as to importance.

Now they are in order of importance and action, A before B, then C. Next, we look at both objective and subjective thinking. Like a piece of art, we have an opinion about this piece of art. Like many things, our opinion will either be subjective or objective. Objective without emotion, verses subjective with emotion.

If you would like to play along, then find both a red and blue colored pen. In red, circle any statements or items on your page that are emotional, therefore subjective. Repeat the process for objective items using a blue pen. Now it is starting to look like art!

Again, pay attention to the red circled, subjective items. Why? Because, they are based in emotion and filtered through your perception, meaning theses items could lead one astray. they could be a false reality, based on outdated training and conditioning.

Ask yourself, what evidence do I currently have to support the subjective statements. Then focus in on the meta model that appears. A meta model iluminates how our mind filters out information that doesn't align with our beliefs. We naturally delete, distort and generalize information so it makes our beliefs true. But this model also narrows our perception of the world. Milton Wrikson once said, it is not the world that lacks choice, rather the individuals model of the world.

What information are we deleting, distorting, or generalizing opens our awareness to where the work needs to be focused. Once we open our awareness into our mind and patterns, we can begin to edit the beliefs that hold us back.

In closing, questioning our belief systems becomes an opportunity to pivot our perception because, as we already know, where the head goes, the body follows. And cheeky as it may be, a big hat no cattle condition, is not just a Texas problem.

Until we speak in person, stay well out there, Bye now. 

BIO Renee Rae Willis: Renee got started riding at a young age, some say before she could walk, and became know to the older girls as the "baby barrel racer" and always had a stash of elastics for the girls in her stroller. Her first saddle came from World Champion All-Around Cowboy, family friend and mentor Kenny McLean and her and Bandit entered in their first barrel race when Renee was 5 years old. From there she started competing at Little Britches Rodeos where Bandit showed her the ropes and won many prizes and championships  along the way. 
 Renee's next horse was Bugsy who won the BCBRA PeeWee Championship in 1997 and sadly passed away due to complications from colic surgery the next fall. 
 Cola was the next step in Renee's career and she broke her into the rodeo scene, qualifying her for many BCRA Jr finals as well as stepping up in the Sr events in Little Britches Rodeo. Cola is still with the family producing Renee's future barrel horses. And then came Dandy. He changed Renee's life forever, winning the BCRA Jr finals her first year on him and filling her pro rodeo permit in the same year. Qualifying for the CFR the next year and the year after as well as the Calgary Stampede two times and making the short go the first year. He won more saddles, buckles and other prizes along the way before being retired due to injury in 2005. He earned his place on the farm and is enjoying his retirement in the pasture. And now to the future. After retiring Dandy Renee decided to go on a different path and raise and train her own horses. Tag, Cola's first foal, is the product of this new adventure, competing on the futurity trail in 2012. Renee decided that taking 5 months off during the winter hindered her training process and was fortunate enough to be able to spend the winter in Arizona where her and Tag competed at the futurities held in Buckeye and the CBHI Futurities held in Canada over the summer finishing tied for 7th in the 2012 year end futurity standings. For more information about Renee, lessons, training and speaking engagements, E: renee.rae@hotmail.com

Web: https://www.diamondwbarrelhorses.com/