Henry Ford hit the nail on the head with this amazing quote. Mindset is a powerful thing – it can take you to your highest peaks and keep you stuck in your deepest lows.
The good news? We have the power to change the way we think about our own abilities, which in turn will influence the success we achieve!

Now of course, that's easier said that done. I hear you saying: "but just thinking I'm an agility champion won't make me one"! And indeed, you're right. Just wishing something will happen isn't enough. We can dream about that podium place all we want, but without the work, we'll never get there.

But, without that dream, without thinking you could do it, maybe not right now, but some time in the future... would you even bother to do the work?

Grit is more predictive of achieving success than talent

Did you know that willpower outperforms IQ by a factor of two for academic performance? It's not just the smartest kids that do well in school. A high IQ in itself is not enough to guarantee good grades. In fact, it's not even a hard requirement, as long as the pupil's got the willpower to do what needs to get done!
Willpower is actually the best predictor for a lot (if not all) other good things we want in life. Talent and skill definitely have an influence, but it's our grit – perseverance and passion for long-term goals – that decides whether we get there or not.

Let me tell you a story about my first Aussie, Juno.
Juno was my first agility dog so she did not have any agility foundations. She was sticky to me as a handler, so distance work would always be a challenge. With a lot of training, I managed to get her to work about 3-4 meters away from me, but that was still not enough for the Elite Gamblers courses that we needed for our ASCA Agility Trial Championship, where you'd need to send your dog about 6-7 meters away from you.
We'd be lucky to get 1 Gambler Q a weekend, if the course was relatively simple and the stars were aligned. Usually we went home with 0 new Qs. Juno was already close to 9 years old at the time, with 3 more qualifying Gamblers rounds needed for her ATCH. The clock was ticking, and where I would have resolved to training more distance skills with a younger dog, I needed to get a little more creative with Juno.

Look back!

So I taught Juno a "look back!" cue. When sending her to an obstacle at 7m distance, I knew she'd turn to me after 3-4m. If figured, if I could train her to spin around 180 degrees the moment she'd turn to me,she'd then see the obstacle which was now within her reach at another 3m distance, allowing her to commit to it and continue the course.

Was it fast? Um, no. Was it smooth? Eh. Was it comical to watch? Absolutely 😜 (Check the judge's reaction in the video!). And most importantly: was it functional? Hell yes!!
Juno got her ATCH with 3 (!!) Gambler Qs in one weekend! 🥳

So, we've established that it's not so much natural talent, but rather a great amount of willpower that we need to be successful. If the normal and obvious way isn't an option, then our grit will help us to think out of the box and find creative ways so we can achieve our long-term goals.

That's all great of course, but what do we do when we're faced with challenges that stand in the way of our dreams?

Nana korobi ya oki

This Japanese proverb translates to "fall seven, rise eight". When (not if) life knocks you down, no matter how many times, show your grit by standing up one more time!

Because, let's be honest: of course it's easy to be full of willpower to achieve your biggest dreams... when you're just starting out. You feel inspired, full of energy, and ready to put in all the work!
...but, inevitably, life will then always smack you in the face with misfortune, and your willpower depletes. You feel too tired to work out, family or work is too demanding so you can't go to agility practice, and so on.

P.S.: Recognise this? Mini-habits are a great counter to these things! Let me know if you need some help with those!

There are other reasons why you might be ready to throw in the towel. Maybe you think your dog is just not "good enough"? Or maybe you don't think you're "good enough"?
It's hard enough to muster the willpower to do something when you believe you can do it, you just can't find the time or energy. If you don't even believe you can do it, then what's the point in trying?

Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right... right?

"But it's an injustice, it is!"

Regardless of what challenge you're facing, it's easy to sit back, give up, and resort to complaining that life is just not fair. Even though it might be tempting, please don't be a Calimero!

Don't get me wrong, I've had my own share of injustices, and of course I've complained. Life's just not fair like that, and sometimes we need to vent!
The thing with complaining about external forces that you don't have any control over, is that it keeps you in a fixed mindset. If you can't control it, you may as well give up. Right?

Find a way

No, of course not! Let's adopt the growth mindset, where we see threats and misfortune as challenges. Life is hard, that's a given. Let's view that massive mountain in front of us as a sure way to get stronger, because we will climb to that peak, even if we don't quite know how or when we'll reach that destination.

I've been dealing with a persistent hip injury for two years now. I won't bother you with the details, but just know that it's not just affected my sprinting ability, but also the time I spend up on my feet standing and walking in general. I have to sit down as much as I can. I can't walk the dogs. I can't do house chores. I can't do very much at all, and I'm not even 40 years old yet.

Trust me, it sucks, and I've complained about my fate, more often than once!
But more than that, I've tried to find ways to still do the things I love to do. I can't go on long walks with the dogs, but I can go on bike rides with them. I can't do house chores, but I have a boyfriend who's getting better at doing them 😁😂 (Kidding! Okay maybe not kidding entirely. 😆)
I can't sprint with my dog in agility courses, so I can't make the fast fancy crosses that my fellow competitors make. I do know dog training though, so I can teach my dog just about every (directional) cue under the sun, and make sure I hobble from important position to position in the course while giving him those directions. I've been practicing distance handling and extreme independence at training for a while now, then allowing myself to run a little more at trials.

I've had many additional misfortunes along the way, but whenever we fall, we get up another time, right? There is no other option!

It took us a while to get our flow, but now we're doing alright!

Just last weekend, we ran two clear rounds during the Royal Canin Masters in the Netherlands, taking 2nd place overall. Not bad for an Aussie in such a competitive field of border collies!

Here are a few other recent rounds that we've run clear, with podium places!

Where there's a will, there's a way

I'm not writing this to preach or boast about my achievements (ok, maybe a little bit). Most of all I'm hoping to inspire people. I'm not anything special! If I can do it, so can you!

And it starts with thinking that you can and a mountain of grit!