Stress Reduction Tips For Professional Horsemen

By: Doug Emerson, The Profitable Horseman

A business and personal life centered on horses never lacks for action. Work days beginning early and ending late are the nature of the occupation, and nine to five work hours for professional horsemen are a myth. Being in business is demanding, and stress is often the result from attempting to live the life of an untiring super hero.

Here are three practices you can put to use immediately to reduce stress and increase happiness in your professional and personal life.

#1- Learn the power of NO

It’s the nature of riding instructors, trainers, and barn owners to want to be helpful, and when asked to help by family, friends, and organizations the default verbal response is YES followed by an internal emotional response of dread for yet another commitment.

Sometimes you owe it to yourself to say NO without feeling that you’re letting people down.

Here are some key points about making NO an acceptable answer for your reply:

• Know what you want and say so – people are more relaxed and drawn to you when you are secure about who you are.
• Removing things you don’t want to do from your life opens up time to complete the things you do want to do.
• Saying no to others requires practice, but gets easier each time.
• Even if at first it may seem unlikely, others will pick up the slack to do the things you choose to stop doing.
• If you have special talents like teaching, training or judging horses, you owe it to yourself and others to create the time to nourish and use your skills.
• Get into the habit of saying no immediately to people who want you to do things that don’t make sense to your business plan or to your personal plan. “I’ll think about it” as an answer just prolongs stress and makes it harder to say no later. A prompt, polite and firm no helps both parties move on.

#2- Taking Time Off

An overactive work ethic robs you of happiness and relaxation. Interviews with the busiest and most successful people often reveal part of their success is a result of taking days off and scheduling vacations. Down time renews and refreshes energy, allows your body to rest and your mind to sharpen and be creative.

Granted, extended vacations of more than two weeks are difficult with horses in your life, but a few days away are always possible when you make happiness your priority as well as your professional success.

If you’re not taking regular days off or at least a regular afternoon off each week, the fault is entirely yours. Reread the section above about the power of no. An afternoon off means doing what YOU really want to do, not what your guilty conscience dictates.

There’s no shame in catching a movie matinee, shopping, or getting a massage, even though your overactive work ethic disapproves of this behavior during work hours.

Along with taking days off, don’t neglect to take a break in the morning and afternoon. Ten minutes of sitting and enjoying your favorite beverage or snack, relaxes the body and clears the mind. You’re conscientious about giving your horses a break in action; be conscientious about the need to give yourself one, too.

#3- Sufficient Sleep

You may not need as much sleep as a teenager, but you need enough each night to be well rested. How much is enough sleep is an individual choice, but indicators like: daytime drowsiness, crankiness, irritability and lack of focus usually point to sleep deprivation.

Ignoring your mother’s advice to get a good night’s rest results in:

• Decrease in performance and alertness
• Memory impairment
• Increased risk for injury
• Health problems if sleep deprivation is long term

You can improve your sleep quality by changing your attitude about sleep. It’s been said it takes 21 days to create a habit. That’s a small investment of time and energy to benefit from a lifetime of improved happiness.

Some suggestions for changing your sleep habits:

• Get up at the same time every morning- if you’re consistent with this for three weeks, you’ll no longer need an alarm clock
• Be committed to be in your bed by a certain time each night. Tell family members and others that you’re not available after your “bed time.” Resist the temptation to do just one more thing.
• If you’re mattress is tired, you will be too. If it’s older than ten years, it’s probably due for a replacement. You won’t believe what a new mattress does for the quality of your sleep until you replace a mattress that’s old enough to vote.

Doug Emerson helps professional horsemen struggling with the business half of the horse business.

Visit his website:  www.ProfitableHorseman.com for more articles like this one and to subscribe to his free electronic newsletter about being profitable in the horse business.